Antonio Banderas: Homophobes are ‘sick’

Another one of Hollywood’s leading men is defending the LGBT community and condemning homophobia.

Spanish actor Antonio Banderas, best known for his roles in The Legend of Zorro and Philadelphia, rejects the notion that gays have a psychological disorder. He says that it’s the other way around—homophobes who attack and persecute gays are the ones with the mental problem.

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In his recent interview with Peru’s Canal N TV, Banderas said, “Those who judge gay couples in an intolerant way, they seem to me to be much more sick. Gay people, on the other hand, absolutely do not appear to me to be sick,” according to a translation by The New Civil Rights.

While Banderas is straight and has been with Melanie Griffith since 1995, he has played several gay characters in film and TV and empathizes with the hatred they receive.

In the film that gave Banderas his breakthrough in the US, the AIDS drama Philadelphia, Banderas played Tom Hanks’ partner. He also played a gay vampire in the film Interview With a Vampire and gay characters in Labyrinth of Passion and Law of Desire.

When Canal N TV mentioned the controversy over the consensual gay sex in Law of Desire while there was little controversy about the murder Banderas’ character committed, Banderas replied, “The murder was fine, it’s something accepted from an artistic point of view. But two people of the same-sex kissing on-screen generated a wave of controversy at the time.”

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Banderas hopes that not only will the hateful acts of homophobes subside, but that also the Catholic Church will soften its stance of marriage equality.

Banderas thinks that Pope Francis has helped make this hope more of a reality, stating, “I think right now the church is inching closer to reality every day. And I think a Latin American pope is making giant steps.”