Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of same-sex marriage, and the first individual gay weddings in Puerto Rico took place on July 17. However, over 60 couples gathered last Sunday in San Juan, Puerto Rico to marry in the US territory’s first mass gay wedding. Organizer Ada Conde, a lawyer who previously filed a federal lawsuit seeking to have her same-sex marriage recognized in Puerto Rico before gay marriage was legalized, cited the ceremony on Sunday as a “celebration of the triumph of love.”
Most of the couples at the wedding on Sunday were Puerto Rican, but others from nearby Caribbean countries benefitted from the newly-passed laws as well, including the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Venezuela.
Rights campaigner Ada Conde commented: “This is a historic event for all of Puerto Rico.
“This is not a show. This is not a parade. This is a solemn event to celebrate the fruit of our sacrifice.”
Marita Lopez, who was finally able to wed her parter of 39 years, had led the charge as a plaintiff in a legal challenge battling for equal rights. She also made comment: “You would think that after 39 years I wouldn’t be nervous, but I am. have butterflies in my stomach. I didn’t think any of this was going to happen so quickly.”
The ceremony was not met without opposition. Unfortunately, Monsignor Daniel Fernandez Torres, the Roman Catholic bishop of Arecibo, criticized the ceremony as a “sad day for Puerto Rican society”. However, it seems that the Puerto Rican government does not share the Roman Catholic Church’s views on LGBT rights. Indeed, Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla recently signed two executive orders that allow transgender and transsexual people to change their gender on their driver’s license and protect their rights when seeking medical services. Also, gay couples in the territory are allowed to adopt children.
