Tag Archives: Pedro Julio Serrano

Via press release from the National Lesbian & Gay Task Force:  The Puerto Rican House of Representatives today approved a sweeping nondiscrimination bill that protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in employment, housing, governmental services, public accommodations and private entities. Last week, the Senate approved the bill in a 15-11 vote and Gov. Alejandro García Padilla has vowed …

The FBI has arrested a man who tweeted a bomb threat against a planned LGBT rights rally in Puerto Rico. The tweet was directed at well-known activist Pedro Julio Serrano. Joseph Morales was taken into custody at his home in San Juan on a charge of cyberbullying for allegedly posting the threatening message on May 6, according to Special Agent …

After a rash of brutal hate crimes, the Puerto Rican government has empaneled a special investigative committee. The announcement by the attorney general was cheered Saturday by activists who complain the government has yet to invoke 2002 legislation establishing harsher penalties for crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity. “I think this is a step in the right direction …

Activist Pedro Julio Serrano and the parents of murdered gay teen Jorge Mercado spoke to the local news after their son’s killer plead guilty. You don’t have to speak one word of Spanish to be moved by this.

The confessed killer of gay teen Jorge Mercado has been found competent to stand trial. Last month Juan Martinez Matos was ordered to undergo mental evaluation after exhibiting symptoms of what some said was a faked state of psychosis. Via Michael Lavers at Edge: “The quest for justice has begun,” Pedro Julio Serrano of the National Gay & Lesbian Task …

In his confession to the decapitation murder of gay teen Jorge Mercado, Juan Martinez Matos (left) claimed that Mercado had been dressed as a woman in an area known for prostitution, driving him, he claimed, to murder Mercado in “gay panic” once he discovered Mercado’s true gender. But according to Puerto Rican activist Pedro Julio Serrano, those close to Mercado …