"Lambda Legal is launching an online resource for members of the LGBT community in Puerto Rico," said Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, Lambda Legal Staff Attorney. "Lambda Legal's history working in Puerto Rico goes back years, but we want to make sure members of the LGBT community and those with HIV can access information about the laws that affect them. Living on the island doesn't mean you are isolated from the LGBT movement. The LGBT community in Puerto Rico has rights, and those rights should be respected."

"The new page on Lambda Legal's website lays out the rights that the LGBT community and those with HIV in Puerto Rico are entitled to and we want to make sure that people are aware of their rights," Espinoza-Madrigal adds.

"In my trips to Puerto Rico, I have met outstanding LGBT leaders and activists," said Francisco Dueñas, Coordinator of Proyecto Igualdad, Lambda Legal's outreach and education effort in the Latino community. "We look forward to continuing to build strong partnerships to work together for equality."

In 1995, Lambda Legal brought the case, Ramos v. Puerto Rico, against the Puerto Rico Police Department, to strike down an unconstitutional disciplinary rule that prohibited police officers from associating with lesbians and gay men. Also, Lambda Legal's landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down all remaining civilian sodomy laws, changed the law in Puerto Rico. With the recent rise in anti-LGBT violence in Puerto Rico, Lambda Legal urged the commonwealth to maintain the protections for LGBT people in the hate crimes law.

Read Lambda Legal's new Puerto Rico resource page: www.lambdalegal.org/puerto-rico

Lee el nuevo recurso informativo acerca de Puerto Rico: www.lambdalegal.org/es/puerto-rico

** Espinoza-Madrigal is fluent in Spanish**