If Bernie Sanders thinks Cuba is worth defending, he should talk to gay dissidents | Aaron Hicklin

Sanders is no homophobe – he was among the few to vote against Clinton’s Defense of Marriage Act. Still, he is wrong to defend Cuba

I remember visiting Havana in 2015 and browsing the book stalls around the Plaza de Armas. From a distance they looked inviting – like those you see along the Seine in Paris. But up close it became apparent that we were being duped. The books were standard issue hagiographies of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, alongside the occasional biography of “Papa” Hemingway. Like going into a bar with a painted bookcase on the wall, it was an illusion of knowledge, a facade of enlightenment. Books are agents of freedom; they teach us to think and question. The book stalls in Havana made a mockery of that.

Aaron Hicklin was Editor in Chief of Out magazine from 2006-2018.