The 5th Cuban Congress on Sex Education, Guidance and Therapy began in Havana on Monday with the participation of some 300 international specialists, announced Mariela Castro Espín, director of the National Centre for Sex Education (CENESEX). Subjects up for discussion, according to Castro Espín, include “masculinity, gender, sex education, therapy and medicine, in the field of the rights for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered individuals.”

Castro Espín, daughter of Cuban President Raúl Castro, added that she hoped Cuba would shortly follow in the footsteps of Mexico—the first Latin American nation to allow for gay marriages—even though the process has met “resistance” and “contradictions.”

Castro Espín was instrumental in the decision to resume sex-change operations in Cuba, two decades after thei were suspended amid controversy.