Ricky Martin and Lin-Manuel Miranda Team Up to Support LGBTQ Latinos

The performers announced the Hispanic Federation’s new initiative that will offer grants to Latino LGBTQ  organizations to better serve those communities. 

Puerto Rican mega stars Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ricky Martin joined forces to support the Hispanic Federation’s new program to protect and serve Latino LGBTQ communities, which was announced on Tuesday in Orlando.

The Advance Change Together (ACT) initiative will support approximately 20 Latino LGBTQ nonprofits through grants of up to $50,000. According to the Hispanic Federation, the funds will strengthen organizations’ advocacy efforts, services, and infrastructure to better serve Latino LGBTQ communities. 

In a video announcing the initiative’s launch, Ricky Martin said he was a Latino, a US citizen, a father, a husband, and also gay and a human being, adding that the latter should be enough to make sure that his basic human rights are protected and respected, “but they’re not.”

“Right now, there are hundreds of pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation that are being discussed and approved. I am talking about the country, the entire country, and in Puerto Rico as well,” the artist said.

​​Frankie Miranda, president and CEO of Hispanic Federation,  recognized the importance of the organizations that are on the ground providing services to the LGBTQ communities, even though the local government doesn’t offer resources for these initiatives.

June 12, 2016, was a bittersweet day for actor, writer, and producer Lin-Manuel Miranda, as 49 people were killed and 53 injured at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando that morning. That night, the artist won 11 Tony Awards, and in one of his acceptance speeches he famously said, “because love is love, is love…”

“We’ve seen what happens when hate and division are allowed to run rampant in our country. People fall through the cracks, lives are lost, and communities are left broken. We saw that six years ago when 49 lives were lost at Pulse nightclub, and we see that now as anti-LGBTQ+ legislation increases across our country,” Lin-Miranda Miranda said at the launch of ACT in Orlando.

LGBTQ nonprofit organizations interested in applying for a grant must serve a majority Latino constituency, be Latino LGBTQ led, and have been active for at least two years, among other requirements. For more information, organizations can contact Fernando Aguilar at [email protected].