Simon Hunter
SPANISH POLITICIAN Carla Antonelli is set to become the country’s first transexual senator, after the leftist party Mas Madrid announced it was designating her as its representative in the upper house of parliament.
In a statement reported by online daily El Español, the party said it had the ‘luck and the honour to continue opening up paths’.
The appointment is yet to be formalised but is likely to become a reality once the new Madrid regional government has been sworn in after the May 28 regional elections sent the conservative Popular Party into power.
Antonelli described the appointment as an ‘immense honour’, and expressed her gratitude to Mas Madrid ‘for trusting in me to be its representative as senator in the upper chamber of Spain’s parliament’.
The politician was born in Tenerife in 1959 and has been a longstanding campaigner for trans rights in Spain. In 2011 she became a deputy in Madrid’s regional government, which made her the first transexual in the country to hold elected office.
While she held that role, Madrid’s ‘trans law’ was approved in the regional assembly.
Spain’s senators represent the country’s provinces, cities and regions, and are responsible for approving legislation passed up by the Congress of Deputies.
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