Gustavo Adrián Melella (born 2 December 1970) is an Argentine politician who is the current
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of
Tierra del Fuego Province, having taken office in December 2019. He previously served as
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 LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
governor of an
Argentine province
Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three federated states called provinces ( es, provincias, singular ''provincia'') and one called the autonomous city (''ciudad autónoma'') of Buenos Aires, which is the federal capital of the republic ( es ...
.
He belongs to the
FORJA Concertation Party
The FORJA Concertation Party ( es, Partido de la Concertación FORJA) 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 Frente de Todos (2019 coalition), Frente de Tod ...
.
Early life
Melella was born in
San Justo,
Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...
in 1970 and attended a
Salesian school
A Salesian school is an educational institution run by the Roman Catholic Salesians of Don Bosco, Salesian Congregation of Saint John Bosco (or Don Bosco), and one that uses his methods. Salesian schools are dedicated to young people in an educatio ...
in
Almagro
Almagro () may refer to:
People
*Diego de Almagro (1475–1538), Spanish explorer
*Diego Almagro II (1520–1542), assassin of Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro
*Luis Almagro (born 1963), Uruguayan lawyer, diplomat and politician
*Nicolás ...
. When he was 26 years old he moved to
Río Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
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 served as Secretary of Production. In 2011 he was elected mayor of the city of Río Grande and was re-elected in 2015.
Melella was elected
on 16 June 2019, defeating incumbent Governor
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. He was sworn in on 17 December 2019.
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 1 ...
. In a radio interview on 18 June 2019, Melella revealed he has been in a same-sex relationship for 16 years.
References
External links
Official website (in Spanish)
1970 births
20th-century LGBT people
21st-century Argentine politicians
21st-century LGBT people
Gay academics
Gay politicians
Governors of Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina
LGBT governors and heads of sub-national entities
LGBT mayors
LGBT politicians from Argentina
Living people
Mayors of places in Argentina
People from La Matanza Partido
Radical Civic Union politicians
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