HAVANA– Ely Malik Reyes climbed onto the wireless platform and began throwing powerful punches and spectacular flying kicks at his combatant. He lost the fight, but scored a major victory that day by becoming the first transgender athlete to officially compete in a Cuban sports league.
Reyes, a 26-year-old transgender man, competed for the first time in the men’s 60/65 kilogram (132/143 pound) sanda category, a demanding contact sport that mixes martial arts like kung fu with kickboxing.
The June 1 milestone marked the latest step toward inclusion in Cuba, one of The most progressive countries in Latin America when it comes to LGBTQ rights. However, Reyes himself recognizes that he has to overcome challenges, including the lack of medicines, a law that establishes conditions for changing his gender on his identification document and the “suspicious looks” he sometimes receives from people on the street.
“Educating society doesn’t happen in two days,” he said.
Reyes, who lives with his girlfriend in a colorful house on the outskirts of Havana, supports himself by repairing air conditioners, as his sanda fights are unpaid. He has been on hormone therapy for two years, but says he doesn’t want full genital reassignment surgery.
His transition was not easy at all.
It all started more than four years ago, when he visited the Cuban Sexual Education Center and consulted a psychologist. She then consulted endocrinologists and underwent tests to obtain a “tarjetón,” a special card that allows Cubans to purchase medications at pharmacies, allowing them to obtain the hormones needed for their transition.
But how Cuba’s economic crisis has deepened, medicines became scarce, so he had to rely on others bringing testosterone in from abroad. Although not illegal, the practice can be very expensive. “I’m an athlete; I can’t neglect my hormone treatment. … I have to stay on top of it,” he said.
Changing your identity on official documents represented yet another challenge. Although Reyes was able to legally change her name last year, her identification card still displays an “F” for female. This is because current Cuban law requires full genital reassignment surgery for this change – something he does not want to do.
LGTBQ activists in Cuba say a solution could soon emerge through a new Civil Registration law currently being drafted in the National Assembly that would allow people to change their gender on their identity cards – or eliminate this requirement altogether.
The changes take place 2019 Constitution of Cuba, which gave way to the 2022 Family Code, which allowed same-sex couples to marry and adopt, as well as surrogate pregnancies, among other rights. However approved by referendum by a large majoritythe measure faced opposition from evangelical groups and other conservative groups who disagreed with its provisions.
Although Reyes’ ID still formally identifies him as female, sports authorities have accepted his male status based on his hormone treatments, medical reports and self-identification. This allowed him to compete in the men’s category of the Cuban Fighters League.
“It’s something new; It’s a challenge that I embraced with a lot of love,” said Reyes’ coach, Frank Cazón Cárdenas, president of the Sanda community in Cuba who took care of the athlete’s registration.
Cazón said he had to work on two fronts to make this happen: discussing Reyes with the other members of the men’s sanda team — and securing approval from the powerful Cuban Sports Institute, which ended up authorizing Reyes to participate in the men’s category.
Cuba’s LGBTQ community celebrated Reyes’ milestone, noting that it was the result of a hard-fought battle.
“It was just a matter of time,” said Francisco “Paquito” Rodríguez Cruz, a well-known LGBTQ rights activist in Cuba, referring to the sports institute’s unprecedented green light for a transgender athlete to participate in an official competition. “It is the logical consequence of what has been done in the last 15 or 20 years.”
“It’s obviously a process of cultural change that is still controversial,” Rodríguez said.
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This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
