Sunday June 4, 2023, leaders of the Student Christian Movement of Cuba, along with members of Freedom Church of the Poor who are in Cuba, shared their experiences of faith as a tool for liberation of the LGBTQI+ community. United in the struggle against empire and its manifestations of fundamentalism which would condemn and exclude people of diverse genders and sexualities from our churches. The speakers gave testimonials about why these exclusionary theologies do not reflect the true God of love that is present in the Gospel, as we reaffirm that God does not discriminate against any of us. Scripture: Romans 8:31-35

The economic blockade (sometimes called embargo) that the US ruling class has imposed on Cuba for more than 60 years as political punishment for organizing society around the needs of the poor, has many devastating impacts. One of these is that many US websites like Zoom are blocked and the internet connection is unreliable. We tried to work around these obstacles for this service, but still had some difficulties! So here are the complete testimonials from Jorge González (he/him), president of the Student Christian Movement of Cuba, and from Jae Hubay (they or he), member of Freedom Church of the Poor & Iglesia del Pueblo.

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Domingo 4 de Junio, 2023, líderes del Moviemento Estudiantil Cristiano de Cuba, juntos con nuestros miembros de Freedom Church y La Iglesia del Pueblo quienes están en Cuba, compartieron sus experiencias de fe como una herramienta para la liberación de la comunidad Lgtbiq+. Unidos en la lucha contra el imperio y sus manifestaciones de fundamentalismo que quiera condenar y excluir a las personas sexo-género-diversas de las iglesias. Elles dieron testimonio de por qué estas teologías excluyentes no reflejan al verdadero Dios del amor presente en los Evangelios, vamos a reafirmar que Dios no discrimina a ninguno de sus hijxs. Escritura: Romanos 8:31-35.

El Bloqueo (a veces llamado el embargo) que la clase dominante de los estados unidos ha impuesto sobre Cuba por más que 60 años cómo un castigo politico por organizar la sociedad cubana en función de los necesidades del pueblo, tiene muchos impactos devastadores. Uno de estos es que muchos sitios de estados unidos son bloqueados, como Zoom y la conexión al Internet puede ser inestable. Aunque intentemos de estos efrentar obstáculos para hacer este culto, todavía tuvimos dificultades! Entonces queremos compartir los testimonios completos de Jorge González (él), presidente del Moviemento Estudiantil Cristiano de Cuba, y de Jae Hubay (elle o él), miembro de Freedom Church of the Poor y la Iglesia del Pueblo.

Click here to watch the full service

Watch the testimony and see photos below

Jae Hubay from La Iglesia del Pueblo gives a testimony at the joint service on June 4, 2023.
Jorgito Gonzales from Student Christian Movement of Cuba, and Cristo Ama Mis Colores gives a testimony at the joint service on June 4, 2023.

See the below gallery for images of recent collaborations between members of FCOP/Iglesia and Cuba’s Student Christian Movement and the Ecumenical Network of the Martin Luther King Center in Havana. We marched together in celebration of Pride at the Conga agaist Homophobia and Transphobia, and we learned from each other and deepened our connections at MEC’s workshop on Theology of Gender and Diversity.