A new report out of Puerto Rico suggests that the U.S. commonwealth may soon ends its defense of a statute that bans same-sex couples from getting married. Via The Washington Blade:
El Nuevo Día reported Gov. Alejandro García Padilla's administration is “contemplating” a “change of posture” and will “withdraw its support of the Puerto Rican statute that only recognizes marriage as a union between a man and a woman.”
The governor — who is named as a defendant in a lawsuit against the U.S. commonwealth's gay nuptials ban that two women from San Juan filed last March — has until Friday to submit a formal response to the case with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston which is considering the lawsuit.
“I prefer not to comment on any final decision,” Puerto Rico Justice Minister César Miranda told El Nuevo Día during an interview in D.C. where he was attending a hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
In a follow up question, Miranda "appeared to suggest" that Puerto Rico would change its policy on same-sex marriage. However, a spokesperson for Puerto Rico's Department of Justice, Amber Lee Vélez, was illusive when responding to The Washington Blade's request for a comment on Miranda's remarks:
On same-sex marriages, Secretary César Miranda has said that there is litigation in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in which (the Puerto Rico Justice Department) has until this Friday, March 20, to file a response on the part of the state,” said Lee. “It will be the appropriate moment to publicly share the state's position to the point raised once this task has been completed.”
Previously, Governor Padilla signed an LGBT rights bill into law in May of 2013.
