It’s what cities in the United States and Europe, pre-internet, once called “cruising grounds” — areas that have for the most part become quaint artifacts of the gay past, replaced by hookup apps like Grindr, Jack’d and Scruff. Havana is gay night life before Grindr.

On an island of communists, gay Cubans were long Havana’s have-nots, the last among equals. That began to change in 2008, when, after a gay rights speech by Mariela Castro Espín, the daughter of President Raúl Castro, the capital staged its first gay pride parade, which has continued annually, less as a shirtless spectacle and more as a protest. Kingbar, which opened last year in the hip Vedado neighborhood, harks back to a time when American gay bars still had a bit of a renegade quality.

“It’s like freedom of expression,” said Manuel Subarez, 27, a sandwich maker at a cafe who is also a “full-time Lena Dunham superfan.” “It’s like we can do anything we want today, because we are gay,” he said at this year’s parade, tugging proudly on his Keith Haring tank top. Homosexuality was legalized here in 1979, but a 1988 law prohibits a “publicly manifested” presence.

“The revolution continues,” said Dr. Castro, 53, a sex educator, at the official post-parade festival as she held a rainbow placard of this year’s motto, “Yo Me Incluyo (I Include Myself).” “Until there is equality and diversity for all Cubans in all aspects of our society.”