Puerto Rican Government Will No Longer Defend Island's Marriage Ban

New York - March 20, 2015 – Today the Puerto Rican government announced that it will no longer defend the territory's law barring same-sex couples from sharing in the freedom to marry. A federal case out of Puerto Rico is currently before the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, released the following statement:

"We commend the Puerto Rican government for their journey on marriage. The announcement today follows a long list of elected officials, including conservatives and Latino U.S. representatives such as Linda Sanchez, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Joaquin Castro, who believe that there is no legitimate reason for marriage discrimination against same-sex couples, and no place for it in law. A majority of Latinos support marriage, a majority of states have the freedom to marry for same-sex couples, and loving and committed same-sex couples in Puerto Rico should not be left out. As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear marriage cases next month, this makes clear that all of America is ready for the freedom to marry."

Many other governors and attorneys general throughout the United States have also stopped defending marriage discrimination, including Mark Herring in Virginia, Kathleen Kane in Pennsylvania, Ellen Rosenblum in Oregon, and Brian Sandoval and Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada.

Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage nationwide. We are pursuing our Roadmap to Victory by working to win the freedom to marry in more states, grow the national majority for marriage, and end federal marriage discrimination. We partner with individuals and organizations across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage and the protections, responsibilities, and commitment that marriage brings.