Caribbean Matters: Trump-loving Puerto Rico governor targets trans people
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Puerto Rico has made it into mainland news headlines recently, and this time it’s not because of Bad Bunny or a hurricane, but for a human-made disaster.
The U.S. territory has launched an attack on trans youth, according to this AP story titled “Puerto Rico bans hormone therapy and gender surgery for trans people under 21”:
Puerto Rico’s governor has signed a bill that prohibits hormone therapy or gender-affirming surgeries for transgender youth, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from activists in the largely conservative U.S. territory.
The law approved late Wednesday applies to those younger than 21 and calls for 15 years in prison for any violators, as well as a $50,000 penalty and the revocation of all licenses and permits of medical staff.
“Minors, having not yet reached the necessary emotional, cognitive, and physical maturity, are particularly vulnerable to making decisions that can have irreversible consequences,” the law reads. “Therefore, it is the State’s duty to ensure their comprehensive well-being.”
It also states that public funds cannot be used for such purposes.
Puerto Rico’s LGBTQ+ Federation criticized the law in a statement Thursday.
“Let there be no doubt: We will go to court to challenge the constitutionality of the governor’s cruel and inhumane signing of a law that criminalizes health professionals for caring for trans minors,” said Justin Jesús Santiago, the federation’s director.
Puerto Rico associations that represent physicians, surgeons, psychologists, social workers, lawyers and other professionals had urged the governor to veto the bill.
Roughly two dozen U.S. states have similar laws.
xPuerto Rico has just banned gender affirming care for trans people up to age 21. It is now the ban with the highest age limit in the United States. www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-...[image or embed]— Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) July 17, 2025 at 12:40 PM
CBS reported that the new “Puerto Rico law criminalizes hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery for transgender people under 21”:
Puerto Rico's governor has signed a bill that prohibits hormone therapy or gender-affirming surgeries for transgender youth, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from activists in the largely conservative United States territory. Puerto Rican Gov. Jennifer Gonzalez approved the law late Wednesday, following a wave of similar legislation passed across the U.S.
The law applies to people younger than 21 and calls for 15 years in prison for any violators, as well as a $50,000 penalty and the revocation of all licenses and permits of medical staff.
[...]
GLAAD, a nonprofit organization focused on LGBTQ rights advocacy and media monitoring, were among the critics that had urged Gonzalez to veto the bill after it passed through Puerto Rico's legislatures. In a statement released jointly with the LGBTQ+ Federation earlier this month, the organization said such restrictions «would create unbearable burdens for the most marginalized in Puerto Rico.»
GLAAD’s statement makes an important point:
GLAAD is supporting on-the-ground advocates in raising the alarm about the serious risk the bill poses to transgender people on the island, literally cutting them off from lifesaving care that is supported by every major medical association in the world.
Unlike in much of the contiguous U.S., Puerto Ricans are unable to just drive over to a friendly state to find alternative providers. Transgender people in the territory who lose access would be stranded if they do not have significant money and resources to explore other options for care. Nothing has changed about the care including its safety and efficacy – the bill’s movement is the direct result of an extreme environment of disinformation that’s now infecting U.S. territories where marginalized people are already under greater threat.
x3. President of the Puerto Rico LGBTQ+ Federation, Pedro Julio Serrano, told Erin in the Morning that because the law was intentionally “vague,” it opens up the very real possibility that not only doctors, but also affirming parents of trans people, could be prosecuted under this law.[image or embed]— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) July 20, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Journalist S. Baum weighed in via the Erin in the Morning Substack:
Puerto Rican Governor Jenniffer González Colón, a Trump-aligned Republican, signed the most severe ban on gender-affirming care anywhere within the United States or its territories.
Act 63-2025, the title of which translates to an “Act for the Protection of the Health and Well-being of Minors in Puerto Rico," criminalizes the provision of gender-affirming hormone treatment or surgery for anyone under the age of 21, even with consenting parents. This can include 15 years in prison, a $50,000 fine, and the loss of any medical certifications.
President of the Puerto Rico LGBTQ+ Federation, Pedro Julio Serrano, told Erin in the Morning that because the law was intentionally “vague,” it opens up the very real possibility that not only doctors, but also affirming parents of trans people, could be prosecuted under this law—if they facilitate the provision of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or affirming medical procedures like “top” surgery.
It also directs the Department of Education and Department of Health to wage an “educational” campaign focusing on the “risks” associated with trans-affirming health care, geared towards parents, medical providers, and the “general community.”
The law was pushed through the legislative process through a series of non-public hearings, Serrano said. At the recommendation of Puerto Rico’s Health Secretary, Víctor Ramos Otereo—who was appointed by the Governor herself—it was sent back to the legislature; Serrano said Otereo suggested adding amendments that would allow for puberty blockers as well as the continuation of care for trans Puerto Ricans already on HRT.
“[Ramos] vehemently told [Governor Colón] to include that language in the bill or not sign the bill,” Serrano said. “Then she signed the bill. So she ignored her own Health Secretary.”
This means adolescents and young adults currently on puberty blockers or HRT to treat gender dysphoria are legally required to medically detransition, the results of which could be dangerous and devastating for many young adults and their families.
xI'm co-parenting a trans child from Puerto Rico. This news is the stuff of nightmares. We have got to fight back, and hard. www.yahoo.com/news/breakin...[image or embed]— Sasha Costanza-Chock (@schock.cc) July 18, 2025 at 10:23 AM
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Puerto Rican politics, the island colony has had a terrible string of Republican governors. It’s hard to name who was the worst of the bunch, but let’s just say they’ve all been pretty awful. I wrote about former Gov. Pedro Pierlusisi here, his predecessor Wanda Vázquez Garced here, and her predecessor Ricardo “Ricky” Rosselló here.
Susanne Ramirez de Arellano wrote about González-Colón’s decision to run for governor for Latino Rebels in “Jenniffer González Is More of the Same—and Probably Worse”:
The current inhabitant of the Governor’s seat in PR, Jenniffer González-Colón was elected Governor on November 5, 2024. She is both a member of the island’s “New Progressive Party” (Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP) which is in no way progressive, and a Republican, and a former chair of Latinos for Trump” .”
González-Colón was an ardent Trump supporter, even after he called Puerto Ricans “dirty and poor” and blocked aid after Hurricane María. She was even one of the chairs of Latinos for Trump during the 2020 presidential campaign.
She endorsed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in his 2022 reelection bid in Florida, backed disgraced Rep. George Santos in New York last year, and questioned the Puerto Rican identity of Democratic Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, a Boricua born in New York.
She is also a staunch advocate of the Jones Act, which is profoundly detrimental to Puerto Rico. She has been fighting to turn the island into one colossal “Opportunity Zone,” which would only spur gentrification and the exodus of even more Boricuas from their homeland.
On the other side of all of this negativity are organizations on the island and mainland that support trans folk and are fighting for their rights. Meet some of them here:
Arianna’s Center
At Arianna’s Center we are the only service and advocacy organization with the mission of supporting and empowering transgender women of color in Florida, Puerto Rico, or wherever there is a need for such service.
We provide outpatient HIV/AIDS testing services, support with social workers, legal name changing services, referral for legal help, access to personal medical services and emotional health.
We offer specific programs for Transmen and shelter for trans women who have been detained by ICE or have been incarcerated.
We provide GED scholarship programs to pursue their high-school degree, personalized support for technical career pursuing and guidance to our clients on how to enter the world of work.
We train our Trans and LGBTIQ+ community in advocacy, making them more active at a political level, supporting elected government leaders in establishing policies and policies that ensure the well-being of our communities in new laws for a better quality of life and laws in the field of HIV AIDS.
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Gilead Sciences is proud to support Arianna’s Center, an advocacy organization deeply rooted in the Latinx transgender community that is committed to providing more equitable access to necessary HIV resources and supporting the unique needs of the trans people in South Florida and Puerto Rico. Arianna's Center is a recipient of grant funding from Gilead Sciences.
Waves Ahead Puerto Rico
We offer support to the marginalized and vulnerable sectors of society by giving them the necessary help to strengthen their community and family environment.
Waves Ahead Puerto Rico and its Community Center provides advocacy and services for the LGBT+ older adults.
We offer supportive, free and accessible services for all with particular emphasis on LGBT+ people over 50. We have service centers located in the north, south, west and east of the island. Our community center is the center for everyone.
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The TransLatin@ Coalition in Puerto Rico
Defending TGI Rights in Puerto Rico
The TransLatin@ Coalition is committed to ensuring that the voices and rights of Transgender, Gender Expansive, and Intersex (TGI) people in Puerto Rico are not only recognized but prioritized. As part of our national agenda, we extend our policy and advocacy programs to the island to address the unique challenges faced by TGI communities in U.S. territories.
La Federación LGBTQ+ de Puerto Rico
(Translated from Spanish}
A group of LGBTQ+ and allied organizations, which formed the United Front for Equity during the last election cycle, announced the creation of the LGBTQ+ Federation of Puerto Rico to maintain the collective work space in order to defend the dignity of LGBTQ+ people in the country.
Puerto Rico Para Tod@s Executive Director Pedro Julio Serrano weighed in on the bill in a tweet saying, “The Lgbtq+ Federation of Puerto Rico denounced “the governor's cruel and inhumane signing of a law that criminalizes health professionals for caring for transgender minors and makes them even more precarious.”
xLa Federación Lgbtq+ de Puerto Rico denunció «la firma cruel e inhumana por parte de la gobernadora de una ley que criminaliza a los profesionales de la salud por cuidar a los menores trans y les precariza aún más. youtu.be/PjbkOaljTXY?...[image or embed]— Pedro Julio Serrano (@pedrojulio.com) July 17, 2025 at 11:34 AM
House of Grace
Among the rocks of their Caribbean archipelago, a group of trans artists and creatives in Puerto Rico have found their safe port. It is a harbor offering them safety and affirmation amid choppy waters. Both a natural resource and cultural construct, it has an appropriately reverential name: House of Grace. House of Grace was founded by María José, a transdisciplinary artist and activist, in the months after Puerto Rico was ravaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017. In the midst of natural disasters and a global pandemic, when rains have flooded and the earth has been shaken, the dancers, performers and writers who make up the House have laid down collective roots, built trust and chosen one another.
Despite its name, the House is not a physical domicile but instead a group who work to take care of themselves, and to uplift each other’s power, beauty, and artistic talents amid a worsening culture of discrimination against queer and trans people. Over time, House of Grace has evolved into a tight-knit yet welcoming community—and a family.
Brut America produced a video titled “House of Grace: Meet the Trans Youth of Puerto Rico”:
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There were quite a few news stories on Puerto Rican television about the bill as well. I won’t post them here, because there are no subtitles, but will post them in the comments section below. Please join me there for the weekly Caribbean news roundup.
