Too Gay For Honduras

I was frankly amazed to read in Thursday's El Heraldo that Ricky Martin, the Puerto Rican pop singer who is openly gay, might be denied a visa to enter Honduras and give a concert, solely because he's gay.

None the less, that's more or less what Áfrico Madrid, Interior Minister, (the man who banned Halloween in Honduras) told El Heraldo. In an interview he said that he had received pressure, though no written requests, from the church organizations of Honduras to deny him a visa because he was a bad example for families in Honduras. Madrid told El Heraldo:

"It is through the departmental rules that we will analyze the request they presented to hold the event and in all cases it is the management, based on the convenience and to safeguard the moral and ethical principles of our society, that will authorize or not the event."

"Representatives of the Christian churches, Evangelical and Catholic of Honduras, have asked that we not authorize the permission because he is not a good family example,....this is not the type of family that the laws of Honduras and Honduran society want to construct and promote in the young and the rest of the population."

Ricky Martin, openly gay since 2010, lives with his two children and his partner.

Just to be clear, Honduras cannot legally deny a person admission just because they are gay. As Sandra Ponce was forced to point out today in response to Áfrico Madrid's insanity, to deny him entrance would be a violation of the Honduran constitution, human rights, and international treaties to which Honduras is signatory.

But the fine points of law, like the Honduran constitution and human rights, often seem to be beyond the grasp of Áfrico Madrid.