If someone asks Juan Gaud about his childhood, he will first say that he is the son of a pastor and that he heard the gospel from his mother’s womb. Then, “I accompanied my father to pastoral retreats and listened until dawn to biblical discussions from different points of view,” he recounts.

He formally preached for the first time in the Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, public square at the age of 12, at a children’s gathering. From that age, he was not only part of the United Evangelical Church of Puerto Rico in Sabana Luquillo, but also participated in its annual assemblies for about three decades.

During that period, he became a youth leader and, after graduating as a lawyer, served as a parliamentary advisor in various secular and ecclesiastical organizations. He developed the art of theological debate, and he remembered his father’s advice: “Observe where the Spirit of God is moving and follow it.”

Gaud held leadership positions in church councils, participated in Christian education committees, and served as legal counsel for the church. He never imagined that the skills he learned there would make him one of the leading political voices in Puerto Rico in defense of religious freedom, the family, and a staunch opponent of gender ideology and woke culture.

Since August 2025, he has served as director of the Office of Faith-Based Churches of the Governor of Puerto Rico, and he has experienced the battles for the passage of laws for religious freedom and the right to life, which could inspire the Americas.

Here is my interview with Juan.

You were a political litigator for several years and witnessed how radical left-wing politics infiltrated various churches, right?

For nearly 20 years, I was an attorney in litigation against the State for violations of religious freedom, which led me to confront politicians regardless of the party in power.

I challenged the imposition of inclusive language on health care professionals and was part of the team that sued the bar associations and social workers’ associations over mandatory membership in Puerto Rico — a legal controversy over whether professionals could be legally required to belong to a professional association and pay dues to practice their profession.

God also blessed me by allowing me to be one of the drafters of the law on church schools or parochial schools when the State attempted to license them.

It wasn’t until I was 26 that I had a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit. I received His fullness, which changed my life and way of thinking.

I returned to the word. I had serious disagreements with the structure of the United Evangelical Church, which led me to change churches at the age of 41.

During that process, I participated as a representative of the United Church of Christ for several years, where I was a member of the National Executive Council in the United States, the highest position for a layperson there. I resigned from that position during a Synod held in Atlanta, when Holy Communion was administered by members of the LGBT agenda. Subsequently, I initiated the process of disaffiliation.

Following its approval, on April 13, 2025, Governor Jennifer González Colón established the Law of the Fundamental Right to Religious Freedom in Puerto Rico. What does it consist of? What are its main contributions?

This law is a compilation of cases resolved by the Supreme Court of the United States and Puerto Rico regarding religious freedom. It is the result of multiple lawsuits in both jurisdictions. In reality, these precedents and the legal framework they established were not taught in law schools and were manipulated in the media, even by lawyers. It was understood that a law compiling them would lead to their implementation, which is exactly what occurred.

This did not happen spontaneously or in a political vacuum. The conservative and Christian conservative votes are important in the electoral process.

The governor at that time failed to introduce any bills. In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he had to be sued for violating religious freedom with the executive orders he issued and for maintaining the imposition of so-called “inclusive language” under penalty of sanctions and loss of license for health care professionals, without respecting applicable jurisprudence.

This caused unrest in a sector of the faith community, so we aligned ourselves with the current governor in the primary elections. As a result, she presented a platform specifically for men and women of faith during the primary and the general election campaign, a platform that does not impose ideologies and does not “grant” rights to one part of the population while taking them away from another.

The religious freedom bill was initiated by the current President of the Senate of Puerto Rico, Thomas Rivera Schatz, as soon as the election results were known. I was able to participate in that process by advising on the structure of the law and verifying its language. It was written by two colleagues who have been involved in these struggles for years.

The law establishes the principle that if the State is going to legislate in a way that imposes a burden, even indirectly, on religious freedom, it must, because it has a compelling interest to use the least burdensome means.

The legislation also provides for reasonable accommodations, but legislated in such a way as to protect the dignity of all sectors of society. All of this is based on the interpretive jurisprudence established by the Supreme Court of the United States.

We ensured that participation in government services would not be denied to a person (natural or legal) based on their faith. If participation required renouncing one’s religious principles, then it is unconstitutional. Any government official or employee who fails to comply, as ruled by the United States Supreme Court, will be subject to penalties.

Did tensions arise during the debates surrounding the law? What were the opinions of its critics?

At the legislative level, few. However, in the media, it was the subject of a campaign of half-truths and misrepresentation of its content.

After the law was approved, the Office of Liaison for Faith-Based Organizations was created, of which you are the director, and which is attached to the Puerto Rico Department of Education. How is it structured, and why was it created?

Executive Order 2025-020 created the Office of the Governor’s Advisor on Faith-Based Affairs (Office) with direct executive authority. The Office establishes Governor Jenniffer González Colón’s public policy across all government agencies. By addressing the government’s platform and codifying the existing, previously fragmented, rule of law, the government now implements it as public policy.

The Office of the Ombudsman implements court rulings. Individual conscience is protected by restoring freedom of religious conscience to the individual without infringing upon institutional religious freedom.

The Office of the Ombudsman, in conjunction with Law 14-2025 (Religious Freedom), codifies all previous jurisprudence. Thus, the government applies “strict scrutiny and the least burdensome means” before interfering with any belief, addressing, in accordance with the law, conscientious objection in employment and education through reasonable accommodations that do not affect public service.

Law 123-2025 (Chaplain Corps) integrates chaplains as official actors in the area of spiritual health, without imposing or favoring beliefs or churches within government agencies. This creates a network of emotional and ethical support, under the supervision of the Office, addressing the legislative gap that had existed for years.

This approach ensures the administrative implementation of religious freedom protection within the government, without favoring or restricting it.