A prominent activist in Puerto Rico says he is once again unable to access his verified Facebook page.

Pedro Julio Serrano, founder of Puerto Rico Para Todes, a Puerto Rican LGBTQ advocacy group, sent to the Washington Blade a screenshot of an email he sent to Meta, Facebook’s parent company, on July 24 that said he has “been trying to recover my page since July 19 when it was hacked.”

The link to Serrano’s Facebook page has been changed to facebook.com/beonrightpath.

“The Meta Pro Team is telling me that I can no longer recover it,” wrote Serrano. “I have to file this impersonating report in order to close the other page that is impersonating me, but it tells me that the url of the impersonating profile is invalid, even though my friends and family can still see the page. I was verified previous to the Meta Verified program because I am a public figure.”

“I beg you to delete the account whose url is facebook.com/beonrightpath,” he added.

Dev, a Meta Pro Team representative, responded to Serrano’s email on July 25. The representative provided him with his case number, and added “your call has been scheduled and you might receive a call shortly.” 

Hitesh, a Meta Support Pro representative, on July 30 emailed Serrano and asked him to provide a copy of a photo ID and a signed statement. The same Meta Support Pro representative in an email to Serrano on July 23 provided him with steps on how to report the issue to Facebook. 

Arthur, another Meta Pro Team representative, sent a similar email to Serrano on July 19. Joy, yet another Meta Pro Team representative, sent a similar email to Serrano the next day. 

Nick, a second Meta Support Pro representative emailed Serrano on Aug. 11.

“I completely understand that the delay in the response from the dedicated team might be affecting your work,” wrote the representative. “I apologize for the inconvenience. Trust me, I am continuously trying to get in touch with (sic) the regarding the update and I am very positive that we will be getting a revert soon.”

“Now my request to you is that please allow me few more time (sic) so that once I get the update I will myself deliver the message to you,” added the representative. “I really appreciate your patience, I do.”

“One of my main tools for activism is my Facebook page because it connects me to a network of leaders and activists who spread the word and take action on matters related to our struggle,” Serrano told the Blade on Friday. 

“My page was verified before the subscription service because of my public profile nationally and internationally,” he added. “It’s the way that people can know that what is posted comes from me. I need this tool to continue the work against the bigots who want to take us back.”

Serrano said he last spoke with a Meta representative on the telephone two weeks ago. He did acknowledge “they have been writing to me almost every day asking me for more time to resolve the issue.”

“I thank the Meta support group for always responding, even if it takes a few days; but the issue hasn’t been resolved,” Serrano told the Blade on Friday. “They have all my info, copies of my IDs, a signed statement, everything. They know it’s me. They just need to help me recover my page.”

Meta has not responded to the Blade’s requests for comment.

Religious fundamentalists launch ‘campaign of harassment and threats’ against Serrano

Serrano in 2020 was unable to access his Facebook pages for more than two months.

He received an alert in August 2020 that said he violated community guidelines and was “pretending to be a well-known person or public figure.” Serrano on Oct. 21, 2020, received a message from Facebook that said his suspension was a “mistake” and his access had been restored.

Serrano in a complaint he filed with the Puerto Rico Police Department on July 12 said “fundamentalist leaders” in the U.S. commonwealth have launched “a campaign of harassment and threats” against him. Serrano lost access to his verified Facebook page a week later.

Serrano on Friday told the Blade his inability to access his Facebook account is “related” to the complaint he filed.

“The last time that it happened in 2020 I was subjected to a similar public attack from fundamentalist leaders,” he said. “It is not a coincidence.”

A Puerto Rican LGBTQ advocacy group has moved a Pride month event from a popular entertainment venue after its owners refused to allow drag queens and a Drag Queen Story Hour.

Waves Ahead’s Express Yourself Glitter Pride event was to have taken place at Distrito T-Mobile adjacent to the San Juan Convention Center on Saturday.

Waves Ahead Executive Director Wilfred Labiosa this week during a telephone interview with the Washington Blade said his organization last year “did this event the same way” at the same venue with a Drag Queen Story Hour.

“Last year we were approached by the owners and the administration of Distrito to do a Pride event there for the first time,” said Labiosa.

Labiosa told the Blade that Distrito T-Mobile contacted Waves Ahead in February and asked if it could host the same event this year. Labiosa said he told Distrito T-Mobile the event is “the same one as last year.”

“They said yes, exactly the same. Don’t do any changes,” said Labiosa.

Labiosa said Distrito T-Mobile’s owners on June 11 called him and asked him about the Drag Queen Story Hour that was scheduled to be part of the event. Labiosa said he told them to “talk to your administrators because they have the schedule and everything is there with all the details and so forth.”

Distrito T-Mobile’s owners later told Metro Puerto Rico the event “will continue without drag queens as hosts and without Drag Queen Story Hour.” The newspaper published the article hours after Sen. Joanne Rodríguez Veve of Proyecto Dignidad, an anti-LGBTQ political party, criticized the event on social media.

“Let kids be kids,” she said in a post that contained the event’s flyer.

Labiosa spoke with Distrito T-Mobile’s owners on Monday after Metro Puerto Rico published the article.

“I said this is unacceptable, that the news told me that we are not having this event as scheduled,” Labiosa said. “[The owners] said no, you cannot have this, you cannot have that. You can only the three musical bands and that’s it, and we said that’s discrimination against segments of our community that are so rich and so important to us and to all the movement. They said, well take it or leave it and I said no.”

Labiosa said the owners called him back and said the event could have a 10-minute segment with a “potpourri of drag queens performing one song after 10 p.m. without books or anything else.”

“I said, well, sorry, no,” Labiosa told the Blade.

Labiosa said Waves Ahead decided to move the event to their San Juan community center. It will take place there on Saturday from 1-9 p.m.

“We’re going to have all the components,” he said.

Amnesty International, the National LGBTQ Task Force, the Hispanic Federation and Centerlink are among the groups that have expressed solidarity with Waves Ahead.