BUFFALO, N.Y. — Earlier this year, the Puerto Rican Supreme Court ruled to allow ‘X’ as a third gender identifier on birth certificates. 

The ruling came after multiple nonbinary people filed a lawsuit against Puerto Rico’s governor and other officials. 

While the ruling made history on the island, many Latino members of the LGBTQ community in the United States are still fighting to make their voices heard. 

What You Need To Know

  • Earlier this year, the Puerto Rican Supreme Court ruled to allow ‘X’ as a third gender identifier on birth certificates. The ruling came after multiple nonbinary people filed a lawsuit against Puerto Rico’s governor and other officials
  •  While the ruling made history on the island, many Latino members of the LGBTQ community in the United States are still fighting to make their voices heard
  • In some latin countries like the Dominican Republic, both gender marker changes and gay marriage are still illegal

For Puerto Ricans in New York, La Isla encanto or the enchanted island, is not as far away as you may think.

“For me, you know, going there, to Puerto Rico feels like a full circle moment,” said Alexandre Burgos. “I mean, I sort of say that I live in my own little San Juan every single day here on Niagara Street. So to go back there, I mean, it feels like home. Both places feel like home for me.”

And as some Puerto Rican activists celebrated a ruling by the Puerto Rican Supreme Court earlier this year to allow “X” as a gender marker on birth certificates, Latino members of the LGBTQ community in the U.S., like Burgos, felt that celebration.

“I think Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican LGBT advocacy advocates and allies are making tremendous amounts of effort to move the needle forward for our community and our protections and our dignity and in our safety,” Burgos said.

Born in the U.S., he goes back to the island every year with his family. The history of where his parents were born, feeling like his own. Especially when it comes to the history that was made there.

“Oftentimes, people don’t always fully grasp that Latinos in many spaces were pioneers and were at the forefront of LGBT rights. And while there are gaps in acceptance in our community, there are also many stories, both told and untold, of tremendous amounts of progress and resilience.”

But not everyone can relate to that history. Some Latinos or Latinas like Yessica Amezquita come from countries that are still fighting for those rights.

“I was born in the Dominican Republic, and I lived there up to about 5 years old,” she said. “The stigma of being a member of the LGBTQ member was, basically like, ‘Oh, well, I accept you because you’re a kind person. But I don’t believe in LGBTQ.’”

Gender marker changes and gay marriage is still illegal in the Dominican Republic. It wasn’t until years after Yessica moved to the United States that she began to believe in herself.

“I really enjoy painting. It’s one of the outlets that really allows me to be expressive, especially painting nature. Ironically, a lot of individuals think that being an LGBTQ member is something that is not natural. But like most LGBTQ members would say I was born this way.”

Even though many Latinos have been trailblazers for the LGBTQ community, like in many cultures, some LGBTQ Latinos have had to fight to be accepted even in their own heritage.

“Having gender markers for folks that reflects the identity that they live by every single day is not only going to bring them the dignity and livelihood that they deserve, but it’s going to bring down some of the legal barriers that exist,” Burgos said. “When you have a marker that doesn’t match your identity and your lived experience.”

Now, for LGBTQ Latinos of any heritage, the ruling in Puerto Rico gives them hope.

“It’s setting an example of how easily it could be done to change policies that protect the citizens of that country, or that island or that state,” Amezquita said. “America has a lot to learn from that progressive decision that Puerto Rico has taken.

“We’ve always had lineage and legacy in leading the movement,” Burgos said. “And I think that this is another moment where, once again, we’re leading the pack and leading the change.”