Adela Hernandez

Adela Hernández is a Cuban politician. Elected to the municipal council of Caibarién in the Villa Clara Province in November 2012, she is the first transgender person ever elected to political office in Cuba. Early on, Adela was interested in women’s clothing. Hernández had her first sexual contact “too young,” at the age of 7 with a 21-year-old man. Adela Hernández expressed that she started the process of applying for a name change on her ID card. Hernández represented 2,000 residents of her neighborhood. In 2013, the neighborhood was routinely flooded and some houses experienced no running water. Adela got the authorities to provide running water at the local clinic, procured lights for the main street, and got the ration store to provide extra milk for the children. She was eligible for election to the National Assembly of People's Power in 2013, but she was not picked from a list of town councilors.