Things are loco in Cuba! First the Catholic Church came out against the gay rights movement, which has largely been led by first daughter Mariela Castro. Now there are reports that police shut down today's pride march, which would have been the nation's first.

The unofficial march, organized with Florida's Unity Coalition, was not sanctioned by Cuba's National Center for Sex Education, which is headed by Mariela Castro, the daughter of President Raul Castro.

Activist Mario Jose Delgado announced the cancellation of the march moments before it was to start Wednesday at a park in Havana. He said two organizers who were to deliver a set of demands to the Justice Ministry were detained one day earlier. Delgado said he has no details of the arrests.

"The president of the Cuban League Against AIDS and the president of the Foundation LGTB Reinaldo Arenas in Memoriam have been arrested," Delgado said. "They were to be here with our written demands but now we cannot carry out our activity."

Some are also saying that police beat organizers, who planned to start the march in Don Quixote park. We'd laugh at the irony, but, frankly, it's not funny.

In the wake of Cuban president Fidel Castro's resignation earlier this year, the balance of power has shifted not only to his brother, Raul, but to another Castro, Mariela, Raul's daughter.

An outspoken gay advocate and head of the National Center for Sex Education, Mariela Castro uses her position to affect positive social change. Now, with her uncle out of power and her father in, Castro's gearing up for a lavender invasion, proposing legislation that will bring bent boys and girls closer to their heterosexual peers.

And she may be making all the right moves.

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After sending gays to work camps and denying them basic human rights for decades before homosexuality was legalized in 1979, Cuba is now poised to become one of the most gay-tolerant countries in Latin America if Mariela Castro has her way. Ms. Castro is the niece of Cuban President Fidel Castro and head of the government's National Centre for Sex Education, which advocates for gay rights in Cuba.

The work they have done so far has centered around AIDS prevention and also in promoting a federally funded soap opera with gay characters. However, it seems that Ms. Castro is ready to tackle the "partnership" issue. When asked directly about whether she will campaign for legal gay marriages, she tip-toed around, saying, "We do not know what we will propose. It depends on what we identify as homosexuals' and lesbians' main needs. Marriage is not as important in Cuba as in other more Catholic countries. Here consensual pairing is more important, what matters is love."

Even if only a civil union law was introduced, it would put Cuba far ahead of every other Latin American country (and the United States) on gay rights.

Gay revolution hits Cuba [PinkNews]