Daniela Mercury Comes Out of the Closet and Becomes a Hit on the Web

04/04/2013 - 03h00

The day began yesterday (3) with a declaration of love that was a coming out of the closet. On Instagram, singer Daniela Mercury, 47, said she is married to another woman, journalist Malu Verçosa.

"Malu is now my wife, my family, my inspiration to sing," Mercury wrote in the caption of a mosaic of pictures of them, in a romantic atmosphere, mouths together, hand-in-hand with wedding rings.

It became a hit on the internet. By 7:00 pm yesterday, Google had half a million links on Mercury's declaration of love. On Twitter, the Daniela Mercury topic was among the most commented during the entire day.

The disclosure of the relationship occurred a few months after the end of Mercury's second marriage, to Italian publicist Marco Scabia. She has five children, three adopted and two natural.

Malu Verçosa, the chief editor of Bahia Meio Dia, Globo's local news program in Bahia, has a daily program on CBN radio called Salto Alto. On her Twitter profile, she also says she is "an amateur photographer and happy."

Before dating Daniela, Malu was in a relationship with Fabiana Crato, Mercury's former advisor.

Mercury's homosexual relationship comes out amid the mobilization against the continuation of minister and congressman Marco Feliciano (PSC) at the presidency of the Commission of Human Rights and Minorities in Congress. Accused of racism and homophobia, Feliciano is under pressure to leave the presidency.

Mercury, on tour in Europe, will perform concerts in Portugal on the weekend and later will return to Brazil. Her team "wasn't allowed" to comment on the relationship.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO