Cubans voted to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption, allowing surrogate pregnancies and giving greater rights to non-biological parents, electoral authorities said on Monday.

Preliminary results of a referendum held over the weekend ndicated an "irreversible trend," with by 66.9% to 33.1% in favor of a package of measures, electoral council president Alina Balseiro said on state television.

"The Family Code has been ratified by the people," she said.

A video posted by the Cuban Presidency on Twitter showed Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel applauding when he was informed of the outcome of the referendum.

Years in the making

The measure contains more than 400 articles including legalizing same-sex marriage and civil unions, allowing same-sex couples to adopt children, and promoting equal sharing of domestic rights and responsibilities between men and women.

The code has undergone 25 drafts, nearly 80,000 townhall-style meetings and 300,000 suggestions from the public, and drew millions of Cubans to the polls. 

On Sunday Diaz-Canel, who has promoted the measures admitted questions about it remained. 

"Most of our people will vote in favor of the code, but it still has issues that our society as a whole does not understand," he said. 

The official attitude toward homosexuality has changed significantly over the past 20 years after decades of persecution.

In 2019, the government sought to include same-sex marriage in the country's new constitution but backed down after criticism from the church. The Catholic Conference of Bishops has once again come out against the new measures,

lo/wd (AFP, AP, EFE, Reuters)