Puerto Rican Republican Gov. Luis Fortuño channels his stateside GOP buddies and says the commonwealth's current laws banning same-sex marriage don't go far enough. Fortuño wants discrimination enshrined in the Constitution.
While Puerto Rican laws already ban same-sex marriages and prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions, religious organizations fear the laws could be changed by future governing administrations and thus are seeking a constitutional ban on gay marriages.... Gay rights activist Pedro Julio Serrano blasted the governor over his position on same-sex marriage. "Finally, we learn the truth about his posture on Resolution 99. For months, he hid behind a language so as not to appear that he was discriminating but he has now done the opposite. It is inconceivable for a governor to support having one group of citizens abused against a minority. As the world moves towards the recognition of same-sex rights, just as Portugal did, in granting today same-sex marriage, in Puerto Rico we want to perpetuate injustice and discrimination."
Fortuño resisted efforts to classify the recent horrific murder and dismemberment of 19-year-old Jorge Steven López Mercado as a hate crime. The Puerto Rico Department of Justice ultimately and reluctantly did so under the threat of federal intervention. To date, Fortuño has yet to publicly comment on the case.
As a proud gay Puerto Rican man, I feel enormous disappointment that the current leaders in PR can even suggest ways to discriminate - event past their elected term! Puerto Rico is a country with a Christian anchor which should help Boricuas to recognize love, peace and equality over some irrational fear of what happens behind closed doors between two consenting adults.
Posted by: Cocoa Rican | 14 January 2010 at 07:23