Human rights activist Francisco “El Jimagua” Cartagena Méndez reported receiving a formal invitation from Pastor Wanda Rolón to undergo homosexuality conversion therapy, as well as being part of the church The Ancient Path to Toa Alta.
“In 2013, after several insistences, I agreed to meet with Ms. Wanda Rolón in her church office. According to her, I was moving masses at that time, (due to several protests that I organize against the SúperXclusivo program and the fundamentalist sector in the country), which is why she wanted me to be a certain leader in her church, but first I had to undergo a therapy of “conversion of my homosexuality”, expressed Jimagua on his social network Facebook.
“I was very upset, I assured him that in my person there was nothing to change and I questioned how these therapies worked, to which he kept silent. After an hour and a half of meeting, Wanda Rolón indicated to me that she knew that two people of the same sex could love each other, but she said and I quote ‘don’t make it public to me.’ Also, I questioned her if she didn’t feel sadness in her heart, knowing that there is homosexual teenagers who commit suicide because of people like her, who are constantly judging us, also kept silent, “said Francisco El Jimagua, who understands that the expressions made by the pastor were a” total show of ecclesiastical hypocrisy “.
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Recently the Puerto Rican Senate began a series of public hearings with over 21 depositors on the 184 project that seeks to protect minors by banning “the practice of conversion therapy,” a series of practices that seek to change sexual orientation and which the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has described as ineffective and categorized as torture.
On Saturday, June 1, 2013, Francisco “El Jimagua” Cartagena Méndez, held a peaceful protest in front of the premises of the church of Pastor Wanda Rolón against his alleged religious fundamentalism, which they attended only 12 people and whom they called the “Apostles of Equity.”