Telmo has the charisma of those who know how to lose.
And believe.
He has long tousled hair, de enfant terrible.
On his wheelchair he releases smiles that dazzle.
He is a 34-year-old boy who has been living for 32 years -for those who don't know him-
above his possibilities.
"I don't remember the non-disabled Telmo, but he existed", he releases it without shame and shows us the photos of him.
He looks upright, blond, on the beach, with a beanie, with his parents.
His father is an
ertzaina
who lived through the bloodiest of ETA in the Basque Country.
She was everything from an administrator to a businesswoman to the best mother a child with cerebral palsy could have.
Telmo Irureta has learned -after everything he has lived through- that nothing should be kept quiet.
That he can show everything, shamelessly.
Like when in the film for which he won the Goya for Best New Actor, he shows his member on a giant screen.
That is Telmo, who is capable of saying in front of the President of the Government and Feijóo and Penélope Cruz and Juliette Binoche and ... the truth about him: «We also exist and we fuck».
The us is for him and for so many other people with disabilities.
The fuck goes further.
Telmo is the one who -in
The Rite of Spring
, in fiction- uses a sexual assistant.
And who, with his phrase and his art, opened a debate.
One that started after telling the truth about him.
Because he wanted to talk about himself.
Of his need for sex, of the sex that people with functional diversity also need.
Telmo not only talks about that basic sex.
No. He talks too much.
Of much more.
But, in this myopic world, of half-truths, of ignorant
trolls
, neither the different nor the one who has so much to tell is respected.
They have called him "degenerate", "slave owner", "rapist"
... of women.
Telmo does not understand.
"They dont know anything.
They do not understand anything.
I am gay... It is absurd that they accuse me of sexually exploiting them... it will be them».
And she laughs.
Heartily.
She is above that digital gossip.
One of those cowards who hide among opaque names and seek their moment of glory.
Telmo doesn't need it.
He also talks about the right to be with someone you are attracted to.
He knows what he's talking about.
Not to resign.
And he begins to explain himself.
To give headline after headline.
"The unknown is a little scary, isn't it?"
"The non-disabled Telmo also existed... although I don't remember it."
He shares the photos before encephalitis caused him cerebral palsy.
In one of them he is with his mother ("a warrior") and his father ertzaintza. PERSONAL ALBUM / CHRONICLE / THE WORLD
Not only, as has been said, defends the right to sex of people with disabilities.
That already stings
She has gone further, she has uncovered another Pandora's box.
He talks about the sex of disabled gay people.
taboo.
-Do you regret saying it on the most powerful stage possible for a Spanish actor?
-No.
I have been very pleased.
They have not understood the message.
There are many people who support me, but there are many people who insult me.
Because with the issue of prostitution, that of sexual assistants, it's a bit like that.
Defenders of dignity and objectification of women appear.
They have called me a rapist of women.
And I'm gay.
They dont know anything.
-And those who have defended you talk about sexual assistants...
-I've never used one.
I speak of prostitutes.
It is what I have known in the gay world...
Telmo talks about his wish.
To satisfy him.
Of not conforming.
«Before, I hung out with whoever I could.
I was resigned, go.
Of the innumerable pages with profiles by catalog that he was looking for on the net.
He talks about rejection for being in a wheelchair.
Of his own anatomy.
Of his need to touch a beautiful body, one that he also likes.
He has faced rejection, arriving at a cafe "to fuck", and
the person he was going to meet not having the time to finish his cup
of him.
«Do you know that he was going to dedicate a sentence to him too (at the Goyas)?
But I didn't do it due to lack of time...».
Telmo Irureta (San Sebastián, 34 years old) in a scene from 'The Rite of Spring'.
For his performance in this film, he won the Goya for Best New Actor.
-It is an advance and an extremely courageous act to speak of different bodies...
-I wanted to thank everyone, even the people who have looked at me in a way that made me feel undesirable.
Because thanks to that rejection I have learned a lot too.
But on stage I did not want, in any way, to go as a victim...
I was going to tell you that what is unattractive is not our bodies, it is your minds.
-It also talks about the pain of non-acceptance...
-Of not being in the standards of the world, of a song that is not in your head...
-Have you never used a sex assistant?
-No.
I already know what it's about.
That they hug you and create a bond with you... Sometimes I don't need that.
I just want to fuck.
Remember that it is extremely expensive.
Which is charged for time.
"The clock and the price are ticking."
-How long have you resorted to prostitution?
-Four years ago or so...
-Your last partner?
-During confinement.
It didn't go well.
We thought that one solo plus another solo would be less solo.
But it was a double loneliness...
He also acts in 'Sexpiertos', a play about the difficulties of affective relationships.
Screenwriter and actor, he completes his year of glory with a nomination for the Max Theater Awards.
Yes. Telmo can't help but talk about those moments of melancholy.
Neither of the looks that have hurt him.
Of his wonderful times in Zumaia.
From the separation of his parents, in which he felt guilty.
From his mother, that she always believed in him.
From his father, survivor.
From his actress aunt, Elena Irureta, the one who gave him his Goya
.
The protagonist of Patria hugged him and kissed him.
Son of
an ertzaina
, he remembers what his father and grandfather lived through.
The feeling that his parents always tried to protect him from what was happening around him.
He also found out about the times they saved their lives.
And he doesn't want to talk about politics.
«He makes me a little embarrassed.
There is too much extremism
.
Nobody wants to learn from the other, they just want to hear what confirms that they are right.
I read her a message from Angela, a sex worker with people with disabilities who says her words are "a wonderful gift."
She emphasizes: "They also have desire."
Because Telmo is more than a few sentences on stage and in a journalistic interview.
He is the boy who overcame everything in school.
He is also an English teacher.
He is the gifted actor and
writer who is also nominated for two Max Theater Awards
for the screenplay and for his bare-chested performance.
He is the young man who has just moved alone and has left his usual home in Zumaia.
He is the beloved son of Isabel and Alfonso who is not afraid of being judged for telling the truth about him.
No half measures,
on the rocks.
He doesn't want pity.
He wants to just keep acting.
to be desired
Ser Telmo.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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Penelope Cruz
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