Telenovela Star Roberto Manrique Comes Out as Gay

Ecuadorian actor Roberto Manrique, star of telenovelas Doña Bárbara, Victorinos and El Clon, has come out as gay.

Manrique opened up about his identity in an Instagram post. “It had never seemed important to me to say that I am homosexual because I really considered that it is irrelevant, that there are other aspects of who I am and that is the priority,” he shared in the video, according to Queerty.

“Robertito [Little Robert] grew up in a world that did not allow him to be who he was, when even crying was not of men, that vulnerability was not worthy, let alone the fact that I liked men and that I felt, since I can remember, that there was something in me that was wrong.”

At the age of 42-years-old, he's ready to be vulnerable with the world. He's long let go of the shame and guilt that made him hide his sexuality and Manrique has been out to his friends and family for a while. He even has a long-term boyfriend.

“I have a beautiful partner, I have a beautiful boyfriend,” he said. “I have been in love for seven years, in an incredible relationship. They cannot imagine how we have grown, how we have driven ourselves. He is an amazing man who works in activism. It has been my support from a distance.”

Thanks for sharing your story with the world, Roberto!