5:09 AM
Salsa Circuit
Ricky Martin is none too happy with Puerto Rico’s Senate right now.
Fox News Latino is reporting that the Boricua superstar has expressed disapproval over a move by the body to amend a hate-crime law. Why is the 39-year-old so upset, exactly? Because the change in the law would reportedly remove the protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people of Puerto Rico.
Ricky Martin Comes Out of the Closet (Finally)
Martin took to his website to express his feelings over the move. “I'm very sad about the turn the discussion on Criminal Law is taking in Puerto Rico that proposes the elimination of aggravating factors in cases where crimes are committed out of prejudice toward the victim,” Martin wrote. The gorgeous singer came out as a gay man last year via his website and since then has been outwardly proud about his sexuality. “I am very blessed to be who I am,” he wrote in a long address on his website.
As for the plan for Puerto Rico’s hate-crime law, Fox News Latino also reports that the Puerto Rican chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union recently expressed its opposition to the Senate bill that would eliminate the factor in hate crimes against LGBT people and foreigners (principally represented on Puerto Rico by Dominicans).
The lower house of the Puerto Rican legislature will reportedly take up the Senate measure.
In his address, Martin added that some politicians in Puerto Rico are “promoting inequality and hate,” while great nations focus on providing their citizens with basic rights.
SOURCE Amaris Castillo
Posted in
1 comments:
Ricky talked about hate crimes before he came out:
December 2009
"As a defender of human rights, my goal is to find solutions for the injustices that exist in the world today. I am speaking about discrimination of any kind, whether it is because of race, gender, nationality, religion, ethnicity, handicap, sexual orientation or political affiliation.
SO I SHOUT: WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE WORLD TODAY?
I'm sure you all have different answers. But at the end of the day, it seems that the collective response usually comes back to one thing: "WE WANT PEACE"
Well, when we believe in peace, there is simply no room for complacency. The murders of James Byrd, Matthew Shepard, Jorge Steven Lopez, Marcelo Lucero, Luis Ramirez and countless others who were victims of violent "hate crimes" should be completely unacceptable to every human being; because we're all human beings. It's up to us to change the paradigm. I hear the world "tolerance" thrown around in the media when it comes to cases like the ones I mentioned above. One of the meanings of tolerance is "the capacity to endure pain or hardship." Another is "the act of allowing something." To me, those don't seem to encompass acceptance, by any definition. So how about this? Instead of saying "we need to tolerate diversity" why not say, "we need to accept diversity."
Accepting diversity is the first and most important step we can take towards eliminating hate crimes and uniting humanity."
http://www.towleroad.com/2009/12/ricky-martin-denounces-homophobia-and-hate-crimes.html
Post a Comment