Ricky Martin Calls for Marriage Equality in Chile

On March 5, Latin music superstar Ricky Martin met with Chilean LGBT rights group Fundación Iguales to learn about the challenges LGBT citizens face in the Latin American country. The singer is using his platform as a global star to be a voice for the LGBT community and to spread a message of acceptance.

While on his One World Tour, which has been making stops all over Latin America, Martin met with members of Fundación Iguales, an organization in Chile that campaigns for equal rights for the LGBT community, to learn about the situation there and the laws limiting the citizens of diverse sexual orientations in the country.

The singer met with the group to hear their experiences and plans to help the LGBT community.

"Hello friends, I am Ricky Martin I want marriage equality for Chile," Martin says in a video posted on Fundación Iguales' Instagram account.

In a post on the Fundación Iguales website, Executive President Luis Larraín explained how Martin's global status as an artist helps their initiative.

"We hope that his testimony as a gay father will serve to eliminate prejudices from those who still have them and that the government will realize that it shouldn't keep deferring marriage equality," Larraín said.

Martin also met with United States Ambassador to Chile Michael A. Hammer. The Puerto Rican star shared a photo of the two together on his Instagram account.

"Michael, thank you so much for your kindness and commitment to this very important cause," Martin captioned the photo.

Martin came out as gay back in 2010 and, in a letter later deleted from his website, explained that he made the tough decision for his children.

"To keep living as I did up until today would be to indirectly diminish the glow that my kids were born with," he said. "These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn't even know existed."