Spanish-Language

Monica Trasandes is the Director of Spanish-Language Media at GLAAD. She was born in Montevideo, Uruguay and grew up in San Diego. She has a very accepting family and lives in Los Angeles with her partner of 11 years, Valda. As a spokesperson, she has done more than 40 interviews on local, national and international news programs on CNN en Español, Telemundo, Univision and for many radio and print outlets.

Eric A. Manríquez and Juan Rivera were married in California in 2008 with a reception at the home of Christine Chávez, granddaughter of Cesar Chavez. Juan Rivera is undocumented and because of DOMA and federal immigration laws, Eric cannot sponsor him for U.S. permanent legal residency like straight couples can. Though they would love to adopt a child, the uncertainty around Juan's legal status caused by lack of federal protections as a gay couple and because of an unjust immigration system prevents the couple from doing that.