MUST READ: 21 Year Old Gay Referee Vows To Get Job Back

Tomillero was born on Dec. 24, 1994, in La Linea de la Concepcion, a city of approximately 60,000 people close to Gibraltar at the foot of Peninsular Spain, where he still lives. He got sick of the vile abuse, including threats and stones being thrown at him, that he was getting for being Spanish football's first openly gay referee.

Since making his stand, Tomillero has been swept along in a global media tsunami. News organizations from the BBC in London to the South China Morning Post have covered his story. A Dutch production company is featuring him in a documentary about homophobia in football. He has been the talk of Spain.

In June, he was invited to Belgium for a Powwow with members of the European Parliament. As he geared up for the trip, Tomillero was in bullish mood.

"I will tell them to get to work and come out with a law that forbids homophobic insults and that would even forbid [offenders] from entering sporting events," Tomillero told Bleacher Report. "It shouldn't be tolerated. It's ruining the image of sports, and it's ruining the dignity of all humans. It's not fair. I want to tell them that if they have the cojones to be politicians, why won't they come out with a law against homophobia in sport?"

He was three years old when his father was murdered, but it is a subject he won't speak about publicly because of rumours he can't corroborate. His mother left him and his younger brother at an orphanage. He has never seen his mother.

Tomillero has been a referee since he was 11. He never took to playing the game, though. As a kid, he preferred to goof around at home, singing or playing with his dolls. He was drawn to football by his brother, who invited him along to play kitman and soon afterward to referee a friendly match.

"It was very hard for me," he said. "It was humiliating. How can a parent do that? I've always needed the support of my mother because I've been in need of tenderness and a hug since I was very young. I never had that goodnight kiss. Thank God now I have the kiss of my brother and my partner, David, whom I have been with for a year and eight months.

"David has his parents and a much better family. His parents have told me they love me like a son. They are always calling me to see how I'm doing. This is what I needed from my family, and I never had it. It has been very difficult and very humiliating."

As a child, Tomillero waited for his mother to return or for an explanation for her disappearance, but it never came. Last year, she reached out on Facebook.

Tomillero found out he had a two-year-old brother. He told his mother he forgave her for abandoning him. He asked her if they could meet. He even suggested they go on a reality TV show for reuniting families, but his family was against the idea.

"I have only spoken to my mother once in my life," he said. "It was on the phone. Her husband came into the room and asked her to whom she was talking. She said 'a cousin,' so I hung up immediately. That was a year ago. I haven't heard from her since."

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