Yzabelle Bostyn
MARIO Alcalde has come out as pansexual, making him Spain’s first ever LGBT+ matador.
The Madrid-born bullfighter, 31, opened up about his sexuality during an interview with El Mundo.
The matador, who grew up in the Alameda de Osuna neighbourhood in the north-east of the capital, is the country’s first ever ‘torero’ to publicly reveal he is not heterosexual.
He said: “I follow my own rhythm. My tastes, both political and sexual, are not normal in the bullfighting world.
“I’m pansexual. I identify strongly with the LGBTI+ flag. Every person has their taste. I fall in love with the person inside, not their gender.”
However, the bullfighter refused to discuss politics any further, saying “artists shouldn’t do that.”
Alcalde decided to come out after a doctor saw he was ‘wrapped in a rainbow flag dedicated to the Mario Alcalde LGBTI+ Bullfighting Club’ while receiving treatment for a severe injury in September last year.
It was not reported who brought him the flag or why he happened to be wearing it in the hospital.
He was being treated for a dislocated shoulder and broken clavicle after an accident in the Las Ventas ring in Madrid.
Despite confessing that ‘everyone in the LGBTI+ community is anti-bullfighting’, the pansexual matador is making it his life’s goal to start a bullfighting club in Madrid’s LGBTI+ neighbourhood, Chueca.
He said: “Once you confess who you are and the person gets to know you, it’s nice because they begin to see it in a different light.
“I have to do things so that the community gets involved. They’ll come to watch me fight. At first, they’re very closed minded, there’s too much ignorance and they don’t know what bullfighting is all about.”
He hopes that coming out will not bring negative attention but claims ‘I don’t care what anyone else thinks.’
The matador is not reliant on his performances as a matador, also working as a baggage handler at Madrid-Barajas Airport.
He said: “I don’t depend on anyone, that’s why I also work in the airport.”
READ MORE:
- Jenni Hermoso, 33, opens up about growing up gay in Spain: Women’s World Cup champion says it was a ‘taboo’ to be a lesbian
- Bullfighting ‘is sadistic and despicable’, says Spain’s new culture minister – but can animal activists get their hopes up?
- Man dies in Spain’s Valencia region after being gored by a bull at a local fiesta
