Ricky Martin has urged Puerto Rican lawmakers to back measures that would extend adoption and other legal protections to the US territory’s LGBT residents.

The gay pop star wrote to Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro García Padilla and members of the Puerto Rico Senate and House of Representatives earlier this week.

The 41-year-old called for “the same rights for all Puerto Rican citizens”, adding: “this is what we are asking for.”

Last month, hundreds of people marched through the capital of Puerto Rico to demand that the governor approve a constitutional amendment banning equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.

A similar march in February drew an estimated 200,000 people.

Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court narrowly voted 5-4 in February to maintain an island law banning adoptions by gay parents.

In March, Attorney General Margarita Mercado filed a motion in support of looking again at possibly removing the ban.

She said the Puerto Rico Government favours eliminating unequal treatment based on gender or sexual orientation.