Gay couples hold mass wedding
More than 60 same-sex couples held a mass wedding in Puerto Rico’s capital, in what the couples referred to as “a historic moment”.
|||San Juan, Puerto Rico - More than 60 same-sex couples on Sunday held a mass wedding in Puerto Rico’s capital, in what the couples referred to as “a historic moment.”
Most of them were from Puerto Rico, while others were from the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Venezuela.
As the couples exchanged vows and rings at the mass ceremony held in the capital’s colonial district, a crowd of cheering gay rights activists showed up carrying an umbrella with the colours of the rainbow.
As supporters celebrated what they called “a triumph of love,” the Roman Catholic bishop in the socially conservative Caribbean island criticised the wedding, saying in a statement that “today is a sad day for Puerto Rican society.”
Puerto Rico, a United States territory, no longer defended laws banning gay marriages after the US Supreme Court in late June legalised same-sex marriage throughout the nation.
In spite of his Catholic background, the island’s governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed an executive order to legalise same-sex marriage soon following the historic ruling, winning applause from gay rights supporters including Puerto Rican pop singer Ricky Martin who came out as gay in 2010.
He also signed two executive orders that allow transgender and transsexual people to change their gender and protect their rights when seeking medical services.
Xinhua