LGBT rights in Puerto Rico

LGBT rights in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Same-sex sexual activity legal?	Legal
Military service	Gays and lesbians allowed to serve openly
Discrimination protections	Discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited in employment
Family rights
Recognition of relationships	Domestic violence law protects couples regardless of sexual orientation or marital status
Restrictions:	Statute limits marriage to one man and one woman (1999)
Adoption	No

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) persons in Puerto Rico face some legal issues. Public discussion and debate about sexual orientation and gender identity issues has increased, and some legal changes have been made. Supporters and opponents of legislation protecting the rights of LGBT persons can be found in both of the major political parties. Public opposition still exists due, in large part, to the strong influence of the Roman Catholic Church and socially conservative Protestants. Puerto Rico's status as a United States commonwealth has a great influence over legal rights of LGBT citizens.

Law regarding same-sex sexual activity

In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional all state and territorial statutes penalizing consensual sodomy, including Puerto Rico's, in the case Lawrence v. Texas. A year earlier, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court had ruled that the commonwealth's ban on sodomy was not unconstitutional.

Puerto Rico's new Penal Code enacted in 2005 ended its criminalization of same-sex relations between consenting adults.

Recognition of same-sex relationships

On 19 March 1999, Governor Pedro Rosselló signed into law H.B. 1013, which defined marriage as "a civil contract whereby a man and a woman mutually agree to become husband and wife."

In 2008, the Commonwealth's Senate passed a proposed referendum to voters that would have amended Puerto Rico's Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, banning same-sex marriages, civil unions and domestic partnership benefits. Better known as resolución 99 (resolution 99), the constitutional amendment was not approved by the Commonwealth's House of Representatives, after the legislative committee studying the proposal concluded not to recommend its approval. A similar bill was defeated in 2009.

During the civil unions debate, attorney general Roberto Sánchez Ramos had declared it might be unconstitutional to deny the right of marriage to same-sex couples.

In early January 2010, Governor Luis Fortuño made comments to a group of evangelical ministers that indicated he favored amending Puerto Rico's constitution to restrict marriage to the union of one man and one woman. However, shortly afterwards he categorically denied that he favored such a measure.

In 2013, Governor Padilla signed an order extending health insurance coverage to the same-sex domestic partners of workers in the executive branch. That same year, Representatives Luis Vega Ramos, Carlos Vargas Ferrer and José Báez Rivera introduced House Bill 488 to extend domestic violence protections to all households, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. The House passed the legislation on 24 May. Govenro Padilla signed the legislation into law on 29 May.

Discrimination

Puerto Rico has not had any legislation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. A gay rights bill (House Bill #1725) was introduced on 21 May 2009 in the island's House of Representatives, and it was approved by a 43 to 6 vote on 11 November 2009. House Bill #1725 would have amended existing Puerto Rican civil rights laws to forbid discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the areas of employment, public transportation and public facilities, business transactions,and housing. The legislation addressed sexual orientation only, not gender identity. The bill was referred to Puerto Rico's Senate and first discussed on 18 December 2009. The Senate Committees for Labor & Human Resources, and for Civil Matters, were both reviewing the measure. However, the President of the Senate, Thomas Rivera Schatz, a vocal opponent of the legislation, stated in early April 2010 on the Senate floor that the legislation would not be approved by the Senate. The Senate held no hearings and took no action. At the same time, Governor Luis Fortuño, a member of the island's New Progressive Party and affiliated with the mainland Republican Party) indicated that any gay rights law needs to state exemptions for organizations that object to homosexuality on the grounds of beliefs.

In addition to these developments, there are portions of the proposed revised Civil Code for Puerto Rico that have been reviewed by both Houses of the Legislature that impact LGBT residents. This included a proposal to insert into the Civil Code a provision to allow post-operative transsexuals to change the gender noted on their birth certificates. On the other hand, there is concern that some proposed clauses that invalidate so-called common law marriages may actually result in the reduction of rights (for example hospital visitations) for same-sex couples. It is significant that Puerto Rico's Roman Catholic Archbishop had proposed a concept called "shared residency" (residencia compartida) that would allow same sex couples hospital visitation rights and inheritance and insurance rights as well. However, the discussions surrounding these proposals have included demands by some conservatives that the Constitution be amended to forbid same sex marriages or civil unions.

In 2013, Senator Ramón Luis Nieves introduced Senate Bill 238 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It acquired 14 co-sponsors, assuring its passage. The Senate approved the legislation 15 to 11. By the time it passed by the House on a vote of 29 to 22 on 24 May, it had been amended to apply only to employment discrimination. After final action by the Senate, Governor Padilla signed the legislation into law on 29 May.

Hate crime

In 2002 Puerto Rico amended its hate crime statutes to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics. Puerto Rico is also covered by U.S. federal law, notably the Matthew Shepard Act.

Military

The Military defense of Puerto Rico has been the responsibility of the U.S. military, pursuant to the Treaty of Paris (1898) under which Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States. The U.S. military formerly had a "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy regarding LGBT service members, and this presumably applied to the island's National Guard as well. The policy was repealed in December 2010 and ended on 22 September 2011.

Political parties

Politicians from the Partido Popular Democrático and the Partido Nuevo Progresista de Puerto Rico, which are the island's two main political parties, include both supporters and opponents of LGBT rights. This was most recently demonstrated by the House of Representatives vote on 11 November 2009, approving Bill 1725 (forbidding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation). The bill passed by a vote of 43 to 6, with most Representatives from both parties voting in favor. The six Representatives voting against the bill were equally divided between both parties.

The Puerto Rican Independence Party is a member of the Socialist International, and is on record as supporting full rights for LGBT citizens. Other smaller left wing pro-independence groups are also on record supporting LGBT rights. In the Puerto Rican general election, 2012, all of the recently founded parties–Movimiento Unión Soberanista, the Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party, and the Working People's Party of Puerto Rico–supported marriage equality and banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

On 6 November 2012, Popular Democratic Party candidate Pedro Peters Maldonado became the first openly gay politician elected to public office in the island's history, when he won a seat on San Juan's city council.

See also

• LGBT in Puerto Rico
• Pedro Julio Serrano
• Politics of Puerto Rico
• LGBT rights in the Americas
• LGBT rights in the United States