Cuban President Raul Castro's daughter sponsors blessing of gay couples

The daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro has sponsored a blessing ceremony for gay couples on an island where gay marriage remains illegal.

Nearly two dozen gay couples held hands or embraced, some of them crying, as Protestant clergymen from the US and Canada blessed them as part of official ceremonies leading up to the Global Day against Homophobia next Sunday.

Castro's daughter Mariela heads Cuba's Centre for Sex Education, which has been pushing for gay rights in a country with a history of persecuting homosexuals. While she was careful not to call Saturday's ceremony a wedding, the event had most of the trappings of matrimony.

Luis Enrique Mederos and his partner for 14 years, Alain Morales, approached clergyman including Troy Perry, the founder of Los Angeles' gay-friendly Metropolitan Community Church, and held hands beneath a canopy while the pastors blessed their relationship.

Uruguay, Argentina and a string of US states, along with several in Mexico, have legalised gay marriage or civil unions.

Homosexuals were hounded and persecuted during much of the presidency of Fidel Castro. After handing over power to his brother Raul, the elder Castro said he now regretted his treatment of gays, and Cuba has been granting increasing rights to gays in recent years.