Carla Delgado Gómez (born 13 July 1959), better known by her stage name Carla Antonelli, is a Spanish actress, politician, and LGBT activist. After graduating from a conservatory in

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife (; locally ), commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz, is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and one of the capitals of the Canary Islands, along with Las Palmas. Santa Cruz has a ...

and embarking on an acting career, she subsequently transitioned to politics, serving as a member of the

Assembly of Madrid The Assembly of Madrid or Madrid Assembly () is the Unicameralism, unicameral autonomous legislature of the Autonomous Community of Madrid since the approval of the Madrid Charter of Autonomy in 1983. It is elected every four years during the S ...

between 2011 and 2021. Originally a member of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

(PSOE) until 2022, she has served as a national Senator as an independent associated with

Más Madrid Más Madrid () is a progressive regional political party in Spain co-founded by Manuela Carmena and Iñigo Errejon. Its primary strength is located in the city of Madrid. It promotes green politics, having cooperated with like-minded parties su ...

. A noted activist for the transgender community, Antonelli is the first openly trans person to be elected to the

Cortes Generales The (; ) are the Bicameralism, bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house) and the Senate of Spain, Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, ...

, as well as the first openly trans person serve in a regional legislature in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

.Carla Antonelli: «Yo entré en la democracia a hostia limpia de la Policía»
. ''Gurb Revista''. Accessed 01/06/2020.

Early life

Antonelli was born in

Güímar Güímar () is the name of a municipality, town and valley in the eastern part of the Spanish island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, and part of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (province). The municipality extends for 102.9 square kilometers from ...

in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

in 1959. She studied drama at the Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Arts in

before leaving her hometown in 1977 due to experiencing transphobia, which she has attributed to its rural location. That same year, Antonelli commenced her activism when she called for an end to the

1970 Law on dangerousness and social rehabilitation The 1970 Law on Social Danger and Rehabilitation (''la ley de peligrosidad y rehabilitación social'') was a Spanish penal code law approved by dictator Francisco Franco's regime on August 5, 1970.

, which had been implemented during the

Francoist dictatorship Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

and criminalised homosexuality and targeted the LGBT community. During the

transition to democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. Whether and to what ...

following the end of the Franco regime, Antonelli joined the PSOE as she felt it was the party most likely to respect and promote the rights of trans people.

Media career

In 1980, Antonelli took part in a documentary that was the first made in Spain that focused on the transgender community. Initially scheduled to premiere on

TVE2 La 2 (, ''The Two'') is a Spanish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Televisión Española (TVE), the television division of state-owned public broadcaster Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE). It is the corporation's second tele ...

, but due to state censorship, it did not air until September 1982, following the failed

1981 Spanish coup d'état attempt A coup d'état was attempted in Spain in February 1981 by elements of the Civil Guard and the Spanish military. The failure of the coup marked the last serious attempt to revert Spain to a Francoist government and served to consolidate Spain ...

. As an actress, Antonelli is best known for her role as Gloria in the medical drama series ''El síndrome de Ulises'' (2007–2008). This marked the first time a transgender actor had a main role on a Spanish television series.

Activism

In 1997, Antonelli began actively working with the PSOE, serving as the co-ordinator of the transgender faction of its federal LGBT group. She contributed to the PSOE's electoral programme on the issues of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

and

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

laws. In 2004, the PSOE won the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

on a platform that supported same-sex marriage and gender recognition for trans people, but the latter legislation was delayed passing through the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

. Antonelli threatened to go on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

if the legislation was not passed by the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

. The law was subsequently approved and signed by

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. O ...

, the

Prime Minister of Spain The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government (), is the head of government of Spain. The prime minister nominates the Spanish government departments, ministers and chairs the Council of Ministers (Spain), Council of Mini ...

, and

Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until Abdication of Juan Carlos I, his abdic ...

, the

King of Spain The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

on 17 March 2007. Antonelli subsequently became the first person in the

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...

to legally change her gender. In July 2007, Antonelli stopped working for the PSOE in order to take up a main role on ''El síndrome de Ulises''. She subsequently acted as a spokesperson for the Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gays, Transexuales y Bisexuales and gave talks on transgender rights both in Spain and also internationally, including in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Antonelli is an advocate for the legalisation of sex work, and has commented on the large proportion of trans people who take part in it.

Political career

Having been associated with the PSOE since the late 1970s, in the 2011 regional elections, she was elected as a PSOE member of the Assembly of Madrid, becoming the first openly transgender woman to be elected to parliamentary office in Spain. After being elected in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, she lost her seat in the 2021 regional elections after the PSOE only won 24 seats in Madrid, with Antonelli placed 35th on the electoral list. Antonelli announced on 18 October 2022 that she was leaving the PSOE due to discrepancies with regards to its attitudes towards LGBT people. Declaring herself as an independent, on 23 June 2023, Más Madrid announced that she would replace Pablo Gómez Perpinyà as their next Senator by regional designation. On 17 August 2023, she took office, making her the first trans woman to serve in the upper house of the Spanish government.

Film and television work

* ''Hijos de papá'' (dir.

Rafael Gil Rafael Gil (22 May 1913 – 10 July 1986) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. His film ''La guerra de Dios'' (1953) won the Bronze Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1953 and also won best film and best director at the San Sebastián ...

, 1980) * ''Corridas de alegría'' (dir.

Gonzalo García Pelayo ''Winning Streak'' () is a 2012 Spanish comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Eduard Cortés. It stars an ensemble cast that includes Daniel Brühl, Lluís Homar, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Eduard Fernández and Blanca Suárez. It is base ...

, 1980) * ''Pepe no me des tormento'' (dir. José María Gutiérrez, 1980) * ''Las guapas y locas chicas de Ibiza'' (dir. Siggi Ghotz, 1981) * ''Adolescencia'' (dir. Germán Llorente, 1982) * ''Extraños'' (dir.

Imanol Uribe Imanol Uribe (born 28 February 1950) is a Basque Spanish screenwriter and film director. He won the Goya Award for Best Director and Best Screenplay for the 1994 thriller '' Running Out of Time''. Biography Born in San Salvador on 28 February ...

, 1999) * ''Tío Willy'' ( TVE, 1999) * ''Periodistas'' (

Telecinco Telecinco is a Spanish free-to-air television channel operated by Mediaset España. The channel was previously known as Tele 5, because it had first begun its experimental transmissions on 10 March 1989, and a year later, it was officially laun ...

, 2000) * ''Policías'' ( Antena 3, 2001) * ''El comisario'' (

, 1999 and 2002) * ''El Síndrome de Ulises'' ( Antena 3, 2007) * ''El vuelo del tren'' (dir. Paco Torres, 2009)

References

External links

Official site (in Spanish)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Antonelli, Carla 1959 births Actresses from the Canary Islands Living people LGBTQ people from Africa LGBTQ legislators in Spain Spanish LGBTQ rights activists People from Tenerife Transgender women politicians Spanish transgender actresses Spanish transgender politicians Members of the 9th Assembly of Madrid Members of the 10th Assembly of Madrid Members of the Socialist Parliamentary Group (Assembly of Madrid) Members of the 11th Assembly of Madrid Members of the 13th Assembly of Madrid 21st-century Spanish LGBTQ people Members of the 15th Senate of Spain