Gustavo Adrián Melella (born 2 December 1970) is an Argentine politician who has been the

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of Tierra del Fuego Province since December 2019. He was previously mayor of Río Grande from 2011 to 2019. He is the first

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

governor of an Argentine province. He belongs to the

FORJA Concertation Party The FORJA Concertation Party () is a political party in Argentina. It was founded in 2008 as a split from the Radical Civic Union. The party now forms part of the Union for the Homeland, Unión por la Patria, the former ruling coalition which suppo ...

Early life

Melella was born in San Justo,

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

, in 1970 and attended a Salesian school in Almagro. When he was 26 years old, he moved to

Río Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Me ...

in Tierra del Fuego Province, becoming a philosophy lecturer at a Salesian School. In 2002, he was made rector.

Political career

From 2004 to 2005, Melella worked as the director of local development in the Río Grande municipal government and from 2005 to 2011, he was secretary of production. In 2011, he was elected mayor of the city of Río Grande and was re-elected in 2015. Melella was elected governor of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and Southern Atlantic Islands on 16 June 2019, defeating the incumbent

Rosana Bertone Rosana Andrea Bertone (born 9 May 1972, in San Salvador, Entre Ríos) is an Argentine politician and the former Governor of Tierra del Fuego Province, serving from 2015 to 2019. Since 2019 she has been a National Deputy. Political career Berto ...

in the first round. His "Let's All Live Better" coalition included his own FORJA party as well as the regionalist

Fueguian People's Movement The Fueguian People's Movement (; MOPOF) is a provincial political party in the Tierra del Fuego Province of Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area ...

(MOPOF), to which vice-gubernatorial candidate

Mónica Urquiza Mónica Susana Urquiza (born 5 May 1965) is an Argentine politician who has been Vice Governor of Tierra del Fuego Province since 2019, under Governor Gustavo Melella. She previously served as a member of the provincial legislature for two non ...

belongs. Melella and Urquiza were both sworn in on 17 December 2019. In the 14 May 2023 provincial elections, Melella was re-elected to a second term with 51.26% of the votes.

Personal life

Melella is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

. In a radio interview on 18 June 2019, he revealed he has been in a same-sex relationship for 16 years.

Electoral history

References

External links

Official website
(in Spanish) 1970 births 20th-century Argentine LGBTQ people 21st-century Argentine politicians 21st-century Argentine LGBTQ people Gay academics Governors of Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina LGBTQ governors and heads of sub-national entities LGBTQ mayors Argentine gay politicians Living people Mayors of places in Argentina People from La Matanza Partido Radical Civic Union politicians {{LGBT-bio-stub