Cuban President in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage

FILE - Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel attends a ceremony at the National Pantheon in Caracas, Venezuela, May 30, 2018.

Cuba's president says he supports a change to the island's constitution in support of same-sex marriage.

Miguel Diaz-Canel said in an interview broadcast Sunday on the Venezuela-based television station Telesur: "The approach of recognizing marriage between two people, without limitations, responds to a problem of eliminating all types of discrimination in society."

Cuba's current constitution limits marriage to the "voluntary union of a man and a woman."

In a new constitution, however, that parliament has approved and that will be submitted for a national referendum next year, marriage is defined as a union between "two people."

The definition of marriage in the proposed constitution and the president's support represent seismic changes for the Cuban government's attitude towards homosexuals.

"We've been going through a massive thought evolution and many taboos have been broken," Diaz-Canel told Telesur.

FILE - Mariela Castro, a lawmaker and director of the Cuban National Centre for Sex Education (CENESEX), National Assembly member and daughter of Cuba’s President Raul Castro, speaks during a news conference in Havana, Cuba, May 3, 2017.

Much of the change can be attributed to Mariela Castro who has spearheaded a campaign for years for the rights of Cuba's LGBT community. She is the daughter of former Cuban president Raul Castro.

Diaz-Canel replaced Raul Castro in April.