Activist Serrano: Rosselló and NPP don’t fool the LGBT community

SAN JUAN – Activist Pedro Julio Serrano denounced Ricardo Rosselló after the New Progressive Party (NPP) gubernatorial candidate assured Saturday that his government platform includes a “component” for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer and intersex communities (LGBTTQI) that will establish “the principles of respect for human and civil rights.”

Pedro Julio Serrano (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

Serrano urged LGBTTQI people to not be “fooled by Ricardo Rosselló and the NPP” after the candidate revealed his government platform during his party’s convention in Fajardo, which Serrano insists doesn’t offer “anything new” for the community.

“Don’t try to fool us, Ricardo Rosselló. Respecting what has been achieved and affirming current rights is no commitment to the LGBTT community. The law forces him to do so. Ironically, he promises the fundamentalist sector that he will create a law that legalizes discrimination against LGBTT people, as was done in Tennessee, Mississippi and North Carolina. This is unacceptable. I would love nothing more than for the NPP to endorse equality for LGBTT people, but that’s not reality,” Serrano denounced.

“Rosselló signed a hate accord with the fundamentalist sector to revert LGBTT rights and that none more be achieved. We won’t forget that the NPP is an enemy of the LGBTT community, as it has voted against all our rights and went to court to try to revoke our marriage rights,” he added.

Serrano brought attention to Rosselló’s participation in events by the ‘Clamor a Dios’ (Clamor to God) group, which he called a “homophobic conclave,” and signaled out other party leaders as politicians who incite hatred through their fundamentalist postures.

“As if that weren’t enough, Rosselló and dozens of NPP candidates have attended, year after year, the homophobic conclave that is ‘Clamor a Dios.’ Rosselló, Leo Díaz, María Milagros Charbonier and many more NPP leaders have participated in an event organized by the fundamentalist sector, which incites hatred, discrimination and intolerance against the LGBTT community,” he said.

Serrano, who is also the spokesperson for the “Puerto Rico Para Tod@s” (Puerto Rico for Everybody) nonprofit, also recalled that under former Gov. Luis Fortuño’s incumbency, the NPP had presented a programmatic commitment to create a non-discrimination law, which wasn’t achieved.

“We cannot trust those who haven’t fulfilled their promises and who have attacked our rights over and over again. May Rosselló and the NPP understand clearly, they will not fool us,” said Serrano, who recently became an adviser for San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, one of the most well-known leaders of the Popular Democratic Party.

During the NPP convention, Rosselló softened his discourse regarding the LGBTTQI communities and assured his administration would guarantee respect for everyone, access to mental health services, and the elimination of postures that establish homosexuality as a disease, among others.

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