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(CNN Spanish) - Activists of the LGTBI community rejected Tuesday the comments of Deputy Jairo Salazar Ramirez who said that "gays cannot enter" to the National Assembly.
The statements of the deputy happened in the framework of the protests on Tuesday where numerous civilians, among those protesters of the LGBTI community, protested against a package of constitutional reforms that ended in riots on the grounds of the National Assembly.
"We already said no to gay marriage and period ... That there will be all those brave gays with us, we will not let them in," said the deputy.
"They are Panamanians," a journalist replied to which he replied: "No, they are gay."
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Protesters claiming entry to the Legislative Palace caused damage and there was an exchange of stones and pepper gas between Protestants and the Police.
Iván Chanis Barahona, president of the Iguales Foundation in Panama, said on Twitter that "I can enter because I am human and my home is in the Republic of Panama."
"The Assembly is so mine, so yours, of all," he added.
I can enter because I am human and my house is in the Republic of Panama. Because we will not rest until we get freedom. Because Panama is a meeting place. Because you serve the people and not the people to you. The Assembly is so mine, so yours, of all #TodosSomosFamilia https://t.co/3eGlp6NMys
- Iván Ch 🏳️🌈 (@ivanchb) October 30, 2019
The protest voices were added by Human Rights activist Ricardo Beteta Bond, who on his Twitter account wrote: “Ignorance and prejudice are the basis of homophobia in our country and the LGTBI community is defenseless against these attacks . Listening to the deputy renews the fight. Many have opened their eyes that homophobia is real and dangerous. ”
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The deputy, from his Facebook account, said later that he is not homophobic and that the media took him out of context. "What those media do not teach is that I told them, that if the people do not let them in because they do, perhaps because they were gay?" He wrote.
The deputy added that "In my community meeting in my environment I have good gay friendships."
For its part, the National Assembly of Panama did not refer to the statements of the deputy, but issued a statement in which he regretted the "violent" events and requested that he protest peacefully.