Sandra Barneda is one of the most well-known and beloved presenters on television today. The journalist has always been very clear and open about her opinions; and although she has reserved a private plot for her personal life, she has left a space for activism and visibility for the LGTBIQ collective.
However, the journalist and writer has never claimed to be a champion of anything. What’s more, her “coming out” was forced, she has always stated that she would have done it in a totally different way. She has confessed this in La Mala Reputación, Nacho Gay’s podcast for Vanitatis, where she has revealed how she felt at that moment, which she considered “a bastard.”
In addition to addressing her long career in the world of communication, the presenter of programs such as Así es la vida or The island of temptations addresses questions about her personal life, her loves or her place within the LGTBIQ collective. Among other things, she remembers how she was forced out of the closet, something she greatly regrets.
The journalist regrets not having had the power to decide when and how to make her sexual identity public, since a newspaper decided to announce to the world that she was homosexual without her consent by altering her words in an interview, something she did not like at all.
“I think it was a bastard, to be honest. I don’t know if they have done that to anyone. I did not report out of social responsibility,” explains the presenter, who also reveals that she was not prepared to take that step. At that time, she felt that she could not report.
“I felt that if I reported, as a public figure, I was not setting the right example. I am not ashamed of being who I am. I have always been consistent. I have never invented a boyfriend, I have never believed that he was doing anything wrong. For a long time I lived with the feeling of living with a subtitle: ‘Sandra, lesbian,’ “she insists.
A situation that he encountered without eating or drinking it, even more so from his position as a public figure. At his workplace, they were no less discreet. “I remember that on Telemadrid they locked me in an office and asked me directly if I liked women. “I was left… sweating inside,” says the presenter.
“At that time they were different times, we are talking about 2003, equal marriage was not yet approved…”, the journalist explains for the first time, revealing how one of her bosses was very interested in knowing in depth her sexual condition, even though he had no nothing to do with the development of your work.
“They asked me things that should not have been asked, perhaps because I was a beautiful woman, who does not fit into the canon of what is considered a lesbian woman,” she reflects, ensuring that she did not answer. “I considered that she did not have to respond.”
After those moments, he decided to face the situation and take advantage of his position as a public figure to make the group visible. His relationships have been public -first with Nagore Robles, currently with Pascalle Paerel-, and he does not hide, denouncing all the injustices and discrimination that he finds himself in front of.