Jorge Báez Pagán
Member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives
from the At-large district
In office
September 24, 2020 – January 2021
Preceded byMaría Milagros Charbonier
Succeeded byMaría de Lourdes Ramos Rivera
Personal details
Born
Jorge Emmanuel Báez Pagán

Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Political partyNew Progressive Party
External video
video icon You may view an interview with Báez Pagán on WAPA-TV

Jorge Emmanuel Báez Pagán is a Puerto Rican educator and politician. He served as an at-large member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives from 2020 to 2021. He was its first openly gay member representative.

Biography

Báez Pagán is from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.[1] He is a special education and history teacher in the Abraham Lincoln School in San Juan.[2] He was a college election official in 2008, and between 2010 and 2014 he was president of the Statehood Youth of Guaynabo, his hometown, and regional director between 2014 and 2018.[2] In 2016, as a New Progressive Party (PNP) candidate to be an At-Large member of the House of Representatives, he ran on a platform of securing payment to special education therapists.[3] He lost the election, however, in 2017, he ran to be vice president of the Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association.[4] Ahead of the 2020 Primaries in Puerto Rico, he announced his liberal platform, including, among other things,

give a $200 voucher to every teacher for purchase of school supplies; create the Recycling Program in all schools of the Department of Education; [give a] [h]elping hand to the small and medium-sized businesses; protect LGBTTIQ and disadvantaged people's rights; [p]romote entrepeneurship aimed at young people; [e]stablish IVU recollection by the municipalities to avoid tax evasion; free pet sterilization; [i]mproving [,] in terms of space[,] in our school to services related to: speech and language therapy, ocupational therapy, physical...and psychological therapy...and open a Specialized School in Sector Canta Gallo [in his home barrio of Santa Rosa, Guaynabo].

He also stated he was in favor of term limits for members of the Legislative Assembly.[5] On 16 August 2020, with 119,883 (or 10% of the ballots cast),[6] he became the "first openly gay individual to be elected in a primary for Puerto Rico."[7] The primaries also had another five gay candidates, however, none were from the PNP.[8] Additionally, he was the only newcomer on the ballot, hence his campaigning as a "new alternative", since the other four were House incumbents.[8] His sexual orientation was noticed by local media, as he had obtained enough votes to displace conservative, anti-LGBT representative María Milagros Charbonier, who had a record of equating homosexuality to pedophilia and bestiality.[9] When she was arrested for allegations of fraud, but before she had resigned her to the House, Báez Pagán said that she now had the time to dedicate to justice and that in public service "one comes to serve others, not to serve themselves." He ran a self-funded campaign with an investment of $4,000.00[10]

On September 24, 2020, Báez Pagán became the first openly gay member of the House of Representatives in the island's history.[1] In the 2020 Puerto Rico House of Representatives election, he was displaced by María de Lourdes Ramos Rivera.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 "Juramentado el primer legislador abiertamente gay en Puerto Rico". Metro Puerto Rico. Archived from the original on January 3, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Rosario, Frances (2020-08-18). "Conoce al joven que será el sustituto de Charbonier en la papeleta del PNP" [Meet the Young Man who Will be Charbonier's Replacement on the PNP ballot]. Primera Hora (Puerto Rico) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  3. ↑ "Catalogan de "inaceptable" millonaria deuda con terapistas de Educación Especial" [They Classify as "unacceptable" Millionaire Debt with Special Education Therapists]. Foro Noticioso (in Spanish). 2016-02-02. Archived from the original on 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  4. ↑ Haynes, Sarah (2017-09-15). "Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association Struggling, As Elections Delayed For 3 Months". Pasquines. Archived from the original on 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  5. ↑ Marrero-Morales, Jennissa (2020-07-25). "Estos son los aspirantes novoprogresistas a la Cámara por acumulación" [These Are the New Progressive Candidates by Accumulation for the House]. El Vocero (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  6. ↑ "Partido Nuevo Progresista Representantes por Acumulación Resultados Isla" [New Progressive Party At-Large Representatives Results Island-wide]. Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections (in Spanish). 2020-08-16. Archived from the original on 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  7. ↑ Valentín, Alberto J. (2020-08-16). "Tweet from Alberto J. Valentín Congratulating Jorge Emmanuel Báez Pagán". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  8. 1 2 "Primer candidato abiertamiente gay entre quienes dejaron a Charbonier fuera de la papeleta" [First Openly Gay Candidate Among those Who Left Charbonier Off the Ballot]. Metro PR (in Spanish). 2020-08-16. Archived from the original on 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  9. ↑ "Charbonier equipara orientación sexual con pedofilia y bestialismo" [Charbonier Equates Sexual Orientation With Pedophilia and Bestiality]. NotiCel (in Spanish). 2013-04-10. Archived from the original on 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  10. ↑ "Jorge Emmanuel Báez Pagán triunfa ante "Tata" Charbonier" [Jorge Emmanuel Báez Pagán Triumphs Against “Tata” Charbonier]. WAPA-TV (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  11. ↑ "Lourdes Ramos desplaza a su compañero Jorge Emmanuel Báez de la Cámara". Metro Puerto Rico (in Spanish). 2020-11-05. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
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