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Content about Puerto Rico

April 28, 2013
Ricky Martin celebrates legalization of same-sex marriage in New Zealand

Pop singer Ricky Martin has celebrated the legalization of same-sex marriage in New Zealand and says it is now inevitable that Australia, where he is currently staying, will follow suit

Openly gay pop star Ricky Martin has taken to Twitter to celebrate the legalization of same-sex marriage in New Zealand and says that marriage equality in Australia is inevitable.

Martin is in Australia to star as one of the celebrity coaches on the Australian version of The Voice and used his Twitter account to post a YouTube video of the aftermath of the passing of New Zealand’s same-sex marriage bill in which MPs burst into applause and then rose to sing a traditional Maori love song.

March 9, 2013
‘We hate fags’ printed on Puerto Rico ATM receipt

The homophobic message printed on an ATM receipt has sparked local concern and international outrage

Police are investiagting an ATM machine in Puerto Rico that has caused international uproar.

Outside the bar El Ocho De Blanco in San Juan, Puerto Rico, an ATM machine has been printing receipts with the message ‘We hate fags’.

According to LGBT activist Pedro Julio Serrano neither the bar’s owners nor the ATM’s operators claim responsibility for the homophobic message.

February 20, 2013
Ricky Martin laments Puerto Rico Supreme Court's upholding of gay adoption ban

Justices vote 5-4 in case of lesbian who sought to adopt partner's baby

The Supreme Court in Puerto Rico on Wednesday (20 February) voted 5-4 to uphold the country's law which bans gay couples from adopting children.

The ruling comes in a case where a lesbian was seeking to adopt a baby that her partner gave birth through which was conceived through in vitro fertilization.

Among those critical of the ruling is Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin who tweeted: 'How sad. This I see as turning your back on childhood. So many orphans wanting to have the warmth of home.'

February 20, 2013
Ricky Martin laments Puerto Rico Supreme Court's upholding of gay adoption ban

Justices vote 5-4 in case of lesbian who sought to adopt partner's baby

The Supreme Court in Puerto Rico on Wednesday (20 February) voted 5-4 to uphold the country's law which bans gay couples from adopting children.

The ruling comes in a case where a lesbian was seeking to adopt a baby that her partner gave birth through which was conceived through in vitro fertilization.

Among those critical of the ruling is Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin who tweeted: 'How sad. This I see as turning your back on childhood. So many orphans wanting to have the warmth of home.'

January 1, 2013
Puerto Rico to have new hate crime laws to protect gays

Outgoing Secretary of Justice promises new rules and new Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla pledges to tackle anti-gay violence

Puerto Rico’s LGBT community may be a step closer to being protected from killings, assaults and other hate crimes.

The departing Secretary of Justice, Guillermo Somoza has said new rules would be put in place for hate crimes and said these result from meetings with LGBT groups in recent years.

January 1, 2013
Puerto Rico to have new hate crime laws to protect gays

Outgoing Secretary of Justice promises new rules and new Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla pledges to tackle anti-gay violence

Puerto Rico’s LGBT community may be a step closer to being protected from killings, assaults and other hate crimes.

The departing Secretary of Justice, Guillermo Somoza has said new rules would be put in place for hate crimes and said these result from meetings with LGBT groups in recent years.

December 20, 2012
Puerto Rico’s top current affairs show boycotted over on-air homophobia

Puerto Rico’s leading current affairs show is hosted by a puppet, but recent homophobic comments by the flamboyant character have led to a boycott call by viewers

Puerto Rico’s leading current affairs show SuperXclusivo is hosted by a puppet, but recent comments by the character have lead to a backlash from viewers.

La Comay is a life-sized puppet of a society matron who comments on the news with co-host Hector Traveso but the puppet found herself in hot water on December 4 after asking if a 32 year old murder victim had been ‘asking for this’ because he was in an area known to be frequented by gay men and prostitutes.

October 4, 2012
Orlando Cruz becomes first openly gay pro boxer

The Puerto Rican says he has 'always been and always will be a proud gay man'

A featherweight Puerto Rico boxer has claimed to be the first openly gay man to come out and continue competing in the professional sport’s history.

Orlando Cruz, ranked the number four featherweight by the World Boxing Organization, said: ‘I’ve been fighting for more than 24 years and as I continue my ascendant career, I want to be true to myself.

‘I want to try to be the best role model I can be for kids who might look into boxing as a sport and a professional career.

May 15, 2012
'Puerto Rican Beyonce' dies in New York blaze

Friends pay tribute to 'talented' trans performer who died after suspicious fire broke out in her Brooklyn apartment

Friends and fans have paid loving tribute to a transgender performer, described as the 'Puerto Rican Beyonce', who died in a blaze in New York.

Lorena Escalera was found dead by firefighters in the early hours of Saturday (12 May) after a fire which broke out in her apartment engulfed the four-storey building in Brooklyn.

According to the New York Times, it took 65 firefighters over 30 minutes to tackle the blaze, which is now being treated as suspicious.

March 23, 2012
Men arrested on gay cruise say they were taunted while in jail in Dominica

'They paraded us around like we were some oddity'

Dennis Jay Mayer and John Robert Hart insist they weren't 'putting on a show for people' aboard the cruise ship they were vacationing on when it pulled into port in the Caribbean island of Dominica.

But they were quickly arrested by military police on suspicion of indecent exposure and sodomy and held for 19 hours in tiny jail cell where they said there was no light, no water and no toilet.

March 22, 2012
Two California men on gay cruise arrested - for having sex

Gay sex illegal in Dominica, the Caribbean island where arrest took place

Two California men who were allegedly seen having sex aboard of a cruise ship were arrested Wednesday (21 March) on the Caribbean island of Dominica where gay sex is illegal.

The men, both in their early 40s, were on a Celebrity Summit cruise ship and were arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure and sodomy after someone from the dock saw them engaged in sex, according to the Associated Press.