As news spreads of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro stepping down, we're reminded of the longstanding rumor that has dogged his brother Raúl, one that will surely be amplified as he begins his nasty little sashay into power. Word is, he's gay.

Whenever Raúl's been mentioned as Fidel's likely successor, readers leave comments calling him El Maricón, a derogatory Spanish term equivalent to "faggot." Not even the fact that he's married with four children has prevented some sites from claiming he's bisexual or a cross-dresser. The Economist has mentioned that Raúl is known as "la China," or "the Chinese girl," because of his effeminate demeanor. Allen Ginsberg referred to Raúl's possible gayness in his journal. Andy Warhol alluded to it in his 1965 film The Life of Juanita Castro.

Though they've never been proven, rumors of Raúl's gay thing aren't that far fetched, Ann Louise Bardach, author of Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana and an expert in the regime, told Radar back in September '06. There's a pervasive down-low population, she said. "It might be the gayest place on the planet outside of South Beach."

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