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He says his name is Osmel, but everyone calls him SiSi. He hands me a cold one and sits down beside me. I ask the bartender for a Bucanero Fuerte, the watery lager that is Cuba’s go-to brew. I sit down at the small counter, getting the impression that I am the first customer they’ve had in a while. Gats Loco is the only bar in the area and they claim to have cold beer. With a population of just under 75,000 and a reputation for well-preserved colonial architecture, not cruising, a gay bar seems an improbable niche-filler.Īs of 1979, being gay is no longer a crime in Cuba, although under Article 303a of the country’s Penal Code, “publicly manifested” homosexuality remains illegal, as does “persistently bothering others with homosexual amorous advances.” While I wonder whether or not Gats Loco’s conspicuous signage qualifies as a violation of Cuban law, I watch a stray dog’s legs collapse underneath it in the withering midday heat. TRINIDAD, Cuba - I’m surprised to see a rainbow flag outside a tiny bar called Gats Loco in Trinidad, an old sugar town on Cuba’s Caribbean coast. I ask the bartender for a Bucanero Fuerte, the watery lager that is Cuba's go-to brew. I sit down at the small counter, getting the impression that I am the first customer they've had in a while. With a population of just under 75,000 and a reputation for well-preserved colonial architecture, not cruising, a gay bar seems an improbable niche-filler.Īs of 1979, being gay is no longer a crime in Cuba, although under Article 303a of the country's Penal Code, "publicly manifested" homosexuality remains illegal, as does "persistently bothering others with homosexual amorous advances." While I wonder whether or not Gats Loco's conspicuous signage qualifies as a violation of Cuban law, I watch a stray dog's legs collapse underneath it in the withering midday heat. TRINIDAD, Cuba - I'm surprised to see a rainbow flag outside a tiny bar called Gats Loco in Trinidad, an old sugar town on Cuba's Caribbean coast.