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Jesús Tomillero Benavente (born 24 December 1994)^[1] is a Spanish association football referee. He was the first Spanish referee to come out as gay, and faced abuse and threats of violence that led to police protection. He founded the organisation Roja Directa to combat homophobia in sports.

Biography

Tomillero was born in La Línea de la Concepción, Andalusia. When he was three, his father, also named Jesús, was murdered. His mother put him and his younger brother in a children's home in El Puerto de Santa María for a few months before they were adopted by an aunt. He left school at the age of 14.^[2]

Tomillero began refereeing at the age of 11.^[3] In 2015, he was the first Spanish referee to come out as gay.^[3] He left his role in March 2016 after being abused by the kit man of Peña Madridista Linense in an under-19 game; the assailant received a nine-game ban and a €30 fine.^[4] He returned to refereeing in September, and was again abused from the stand; death threats were sent to him online and he was assigned police protection.^[5]

Activism

In September 2016, Tomillero spoke to the European Parliament about homophobia in sport.^[5] In the same year, he set up the foundation Roja Directa ("Straight Red").^[6] In January 2022, he was given the Social Action award from the Regional Government of Andalusia's Equality Minister Rocío Ruiz for the foundation's work.^[7]

Tomillero, whose aunt was a city councillor, joined the conservative People's Party (PP) at the age of 17, and spoke of a desire to become a city councillor in charge of sports.^[2] In 2019, he announced that he had left the party and cited several reasons: their relations with far-right party Vox, allegedly using him to attract gay voters, and the discipline they had taken against him for claiming that over 90% of PP members are gay.^[8]

Personal life

In 2017, Tomillero published an autobiography Volar sin barreras ("Flying without Barriers").^[9]

In December 2016, Tomillero appeared on the Telecinco reality show Sálvame Snow Week. His partner David broke up with him during the show, alleging infidelity.^[10] The pair reconciled before he returned to the show the following year; he intended to propose marriage live on air, but his partner did not pick up the telephone.^[11] Tomillero said in 2019 that he would never do such a show again, as it had hurt his personal and professional image.^[8]

References

^ Manzano Gálvez, Juan Pablo (31 May 2017). "Tarjeta roja a la homofobia, Jesús Tomillero publica sus memorias" [Red card to homophobia, Jesús Tomillero publishes his memoirs] (in Spanish). Shangay. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
^ ^a ^b Cifuentes, Pedro; Ruso, Fernando (17 May 2016). "El árbitro gay que quiere ser político: "El PP es mi familia"" [The gay referee who wants to be a politician: "The PP is in my family"]. El Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 March 2022.
^ ^a ^b Cifuentes, Pedro (4 April 2016). ""Soy el único árbitro que ha salido del armario"" ["I am the only referee who has come out the closet"]. El Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 March 2022.
^ Lowe, Sid (10 May 2016). "Spain's first openly gay referee walks away from football after abuse". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
^ ^a ^b Oliveira, Joana (16 September 2016). "Spain's only openly gay referee under protection due to death threats". El País. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
^ "La asociación Roja Directa Andalucía LGTBI plantea acciones comunes con el Ayuntamiento" [The Roja Directa Andalucía LGTBI plans joint actions with the City Council]. Europa Sur (in Spanish). 22 July 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
^ "La asociación Roja Directa, nuevo premio de Acción Social 2022 de la Junta de Andalucía" [Roja Directa association, new winners of the Government of Andalusia's 2022 Social Action Award] (in Spanish). Onda Cero. 18 January 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Jesús Tomillero: "El PP me utilizó políticamente por ser gay"" [Jesús Tomillero: "The PP used me politically because I am gay"] (in Spanish). Shangay. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
^ "Jesús Tomillero presentará su libro 'Volar sin barreras'" [Jesús Tomillero will present his book 'Volar sin barreras'] (in Spanish). Noticias de la Villa. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
^ "David rompe con Jesús Tomillero: "Dejo esta relación de mentiras y engaños"" [David breaks up with Jesús Tomillero: "I'm leaving this relationship of lies and deceit"] (in Spanish). Telecinco. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
^ "Jesús Tomillero le quiere pedir matrimonio a David en directo… pero él no coge el teléfono" [Jesús Tomillero wants to ask David to marry him live on air... but he doesn't pick up the telephone] (in Spanish). Telecinco. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2022.