Nelie Lebrón Robles, a representative of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), introduced a legislative resolution to investigate the gender gap in hiring artists for municipal music events.
House Resolution 220, co-authored by Adriana Gutiérrez Colón and Denis Márquez Lebrón — both also representatives of the PIP — is based on investigation by the Gender Investigative Unit, a collaboration between Todas and the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI), which found that in 2024, fewer than 10% of artist bookings at patron saint festivals, municipal festivals, and other public events were for women performers.
“It is imperative for this House of Representatives to investigate the reasons behind the stark disparity in hiring between male and female artists by municipalities. We also need to examine whether the current legal framework provides adequate safeguards to prevent sex-based discrimination against women artists, and whether legislative changes are needed to prevent such discrimination,” states the resolution authored by Lebrón Robles, who is also a bomba singer.
“In Puerto Rico, there are many women artists, but if they’re not given the opportunity to take part in these large-scale events, they won’t be able to gain visibility and continue getting hired. That’s discriminatory, and we’re not saying they should be hired just because they’re women — we want to understand why they’re not being hired,” said Representative Lebrón.
The resolution calls for the investigation to include an analysis of the criteria municipalities use to hire groups and artists for patron saint festivals, municipal festivals, and similar events.
During the interview, the at-large legislator proposed promoting a catalog of women artists that event promoters across municipalities could access “to break the habit of always hiring the same people for every event.”
Lebrón Robles, a graduate and retired faculty member of the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, noted that over the past two decades, the number of women enrolled at the institution has steadily grown.
“I remember when I started working there in 2000, most of the students were men. And by the time I retired in 2024, there were more women than men studying at the Conservatory. That’s a significant shift in terms of the academic training accessible to both women and men, especially at an institution like the Conservatory, which has such rigorous admissions standards.”
In the past five years, the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music has graduated 106 women from its bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, according to data gathered by the Gender Investigative Unit.
Another issue highlighted by the joint investigation from Todas and the CPI is the sexism and beauty standards often imposed on women artists.
“I’ve been a woman artist my whole life. I’ve been singing professionally for over 40 years, and I know firsthand the kinds of assumptions people make about women in the arts — especially in music. We also want to break down those stigmas, which often prevent women from having equal access to opportunities,” the representative added.
Lebrón Robles also stressed the need to ensure pay equity in artist contracts.
“When you look at the pay rates for male and female artists, women consistently earn less than men. And that just doesn’t make sense. So, what we’re asking with this investigation is to identify the real reasons why women aren’t being hired — and to make sure that when they are hired, they’re paid under the same conditions as men,” she said.
House Resolution 220 was referred on March 31 to the Committee on Internal Affairs, chaired by New Progressive Party Representative Pedro “Pellé” Santiago Guzmán.
This translation was generated with the assistance of AI and thoroughly reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and clarity.
