Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Portugal, Yes. Puerto Rico, No.


Puerto Rico Governor, Luis Fortuño, told a group of religious leaders that he plans to consult voters about the inclusion of a constitutional amendment that would declare the exclusivity of marriage as the union between a man and a woman. 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.

Fortuño made his remarks during a speech at the Nueva Cosecha Church in Carolina; the proposed vote in favor of the constitutional amendment declaring the exclusivity of marriage between a man and a woman would be part of the proposed vote that would amend the Constitution to reduce the size of the Legislature. it seems like they'd like to hide their discriminatory politics in a nice little "smaller government" bundle.

The good news, and there is some good news, is that previous attempts at the local Legislature to approve a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, such as the so-called Resolution 99, have failed.

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.”

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous11:16 AM

    The shame of it...we are so blind as puerto ricans we have had our rights limited through our commonwealth status ...so lets learn the lesson and discriminate our own people even further .... y el progreso ... donde esta cono

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