Respecting our differences

We can all come together as human beings and learn to respect and celebrate our differences. That is the gist of a new public service campaign that WAPA TV, a commercial TV station in Puerto Rico, just launched with the assistance and participation of the Task Force.

Last April, the Task Force and Puerto Rico Para Tod@s started a campaign to ask WAPA TV to end the anti-LGBT speech from SuperXclusivo, the top-rated show in Puerto Rico. After Ricky Martin’s coming out, the hate speech intensified, which led Task Force spokesperson Pedro Julio Serrano to organize a campaign that led to the filing of hundreds complaints against indecent and profane language at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Elected officials from New York City also chimed in and thousands of letters were sent to WAPA’s executives. All of this in just one week. The result: a 15-minute, on-air apology from the hosts of SuperXclusivo and a public service campaign designed to combat prejudice and respect diversity.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7Oj9L4WKYY]

Special thanks go to Andrés Duque from Blabbeando for translating the apology and posting it online.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MQZGBmGs9I]

Serrano now serves as spokesperson for the public service campaign against hate speech and discrimination, which can be seen here.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWmjiF8PEV8]

The campaign features the talent of the TV station, and its slogan is: “We’re all brothers and sisters, and we’re all human. Let’s respect our differences.” Let’s do it.