TRAVEL: Cuba’s gay oasis?

SANTA CLARA, CUBA—Crowds of gay and trans people wait outside a ruined hotel with trees growing out the windows. Inside, a disco beat pounds. The throng files in and starts dancing, while a couple of lesbians kiss passionately in the middle of the courtyard. This is not a trendy nightclub in Havana—we’re in a small city in the central province of Villa Clara, an area that many tourists pass through without a second glance. The club is El Mejunje (which means, “The Mixture”) and they’ve been having discos and drag shows here for 20 years, reports the Toronto Star.

El Mejunje was founded by Ramón Silverio, an impoverished local kid who loved it when the travelling circus came to town. Silverio worked in education and theatre, and dreamed of a place where artists, rock musicians, drag performers and intellectuals of all kinds could gather and find acceptance.