Instead of “Gracias” or “Have a nice day,” an ATM at a local bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is printing “WE HATE FAGS” at the bottom of its receipts. Bar owners say they have nothing to do with the machine — it’s owned and run by a separate company — and they’ve disconnected it and complained to the ATM company.
Unless the ATM is British and was pushing an anti-cigarette campaign, the message can only be considered a vile joke.
The Huffington Post notes:
LGBT activist Pedro Julio Serrano thanked the companies for disavowing the homophobic message in a blog post, but also lamented that it happened in the first place. He said the incident made it clear that the island should pass a law proposed by Puerto Rican Sen. Ramón Luis Nieves criminalizing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
“Homophobia is unacceptable, wherever it comes from,†Serrano wrote. “This can’t keep happening in Puerto Rico.â€
Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court just ruled the commonwealth’s ban on same-sex couples adopting children is legal.
Andrés Duque, who writes the excellent blog Blabbeando, reported late last month:
El Vocero says that the ruling comes after a Puerto Rican woman sought to adopt her lesbian partner’s daughter. A current law “bans the adoption of a minor if the biological mother doesn’t give up her rights unless the couple consists of a man and a woman”, according to the paper.
The women had argued that Article 138 of the Civil Code was unconstitutional because it banned adoptions by same-sex couples.
Puerto Rico’s best known openly gay man has responded on Twitter.
“So sad,” writes Ricky Martin, “I see this as turning our backs on childhood. So many orphans who want the warmth of 1 home.”
Image by Pedro Julio Serrano via Facebook