Description

When the Puerto Rico para Tod@s organization asked the
Puerto Rico Civil Rights Commission to conduct research to study
the incidence of homophobic manifestations in our society, we believed
that we were facing a new challenge in the defense of human rights
in the 21st century. Homophobia is deeply rooted in our country and
it constitutes a formidable factor of discrimination, marginalization
and exclusion. In fact, it seems that homophobia still exists as a
socially accepted prejudice. The frequency of jokes, epithets and
murals with hate messages evidence how much we tolerate it and, at
times, encourage it. The study and documentation of discriminatory
practices on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity from
private and government entities and the intersections between these
and the exercise of fundamental rights is crucial for the analysis of
the full validity of human rights in Puerto Rico. Respecting, protecting
and ennobling our rights are impossible in a context of discrimination
and exclusion of people on the basis of their orientation or gender
identity.