VivirLatino

Thanks so much for making a reference to my blog post. I would still like to clarify a couple of things:

1. Though the United States has not approved civil unions or marriage for same-sex couples on a federal level, one state - Massachussetts - has indeed granted the right to marry to same-sex couples. Others like Vermont and New Jersey have also granted civil union rights.

2. Puerto Rico has not necessarily been "pushed" to adopt civil unions for same-sex couples. The initiative comes from legislators who inluded the inclusive language in a revision of the island's civil code which means the initiative came from Puerto Rican leaders themselves (and not outside sources).

Still, should the language be approved into law, it would be an amazing development and will probably shock people in the United States who always seem to think that Latinos are less progressive on these issues.

As a gay man who left Puerto Rico at the age of 42, I would be VERY surprised if our spineless legislators made such a positive civil rights step.
For decades they have been bowing to the will of protestant "leaders" who have threatened to campaign among their followers to remove them from office if they didn't bend to their religious/political agenda.
There was a time when San Juan was a gay heaven; I grew up in an era when there was more tolerance (except for the occasional raids by police looking for more payoff from club owners) for gay people and businesses.
Then in 1974, things started to get bad, then progressive worse.
Puerto Rico is supposed to be home to ALL puertorriqueños. We often have said, sometimes hypocritically, that all Puerto Ricans are the same and equal - Puerto Rican first, white, black, trigueño, christian, jew, Arab, Asian, etc., second.
It's time to put up or shut up.

I really hope That Puerto Rico passes some sort
of civil union for same sex couples. It will
definitely help with gay tourism as well.