Some VIP Cubans were all about Robert Mapplethorpe last night, when Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon hosted a private showing of the late Mapplethorpe's contentious works. This exhibit definitely ain't something you'd see fifteen years ago, when Cuba first legalized same-sex sex.

In one on of Mapplethorpe's most iconic - and most controversial - images, a man inserts his finger into his urethra. Not surprisingly, Mapplethorpe's sensual focus found many a conservative combatant. One of the most prominent examples can be found in Cincinnati, The city tried - and acquitted - the Contemporary Arts Centre and its director, Dennis Barrie for obscenity after they displayed Mapplethorpe's The Perfect Moment. How the times have changed.

Cuba - once a bastion of official homophobia - continues to evolve on social issues, however slowly. The government continues to debate including gays under the 1970s-era Family Code, nor do gays have the right to assembly.

(Note: A Bit "NSFW" after the jump.)

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