LGBT rights in Cuba visibility and gender transgressions themselves constituted a central part of the problem identified by the revolution. Even during the severest period of enforcement, Marvin Leiner reminds us, private homosexual expression was never the main target. Rather, "... the major concern, as it had always been, was with the public display of homosexuality." Many of the progressive LGBT persons who remained in Cuba became involved in counter-revolutionary activities, independently or through encouragement of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and were jailed. The 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, commando attacks from Florida bases, and internal CIA-sponsored subversion created in Cuba an increased
Protestantism in Cuba walls keeping Protestants out of Cuba were broken down. Many Protestants began to make their home in Cuba. Several more Protestants influenced the culture and society by coming to trade or vacation on the island. Even with the opening of trade, tensions remained strong between Catholics and Protestants in Cuba throughout the early days of the colony. Many of the Protestant churches in Cuba have ties to the United States through various missionary activity. The Baptist Convention of Cuba is an influential Protestant group that was begun by a Cuban exile who was associated with the American Southern Baptist Convention.