Gay characters feature in latest nightly telenovela, and activists urge show to have first on-screen embrace

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

Love triangles, broken hearts and a reality TV star, accompanied by an upbeat samba soundtrack. It could only be one of Brazil's nightly telenovela soaps, the latest of which debuted last week. But Insensato Coração, or Foolish Heart, is set to break the mould by featuring at least six gay characters.

"We are going to take on a contemporary and pertinent issue," Ricardo Linhares, one of the show's creators told Brazil's R7 news website. He said he hoped the soap would help "combat prejudice and promote acceptance".

Most Brazilian cities have prominent gay communities but homophobia and violence persist. According to the Grupo Gay da Bahia, 198 gay people were murdered in Brazil in 2009, up from a figure of 122 two years earlier.

Soap operas often pull in close to 50 million viewers. Some have attempted to raise awareness of other taboos such as mental illness, drug abuse and alcoholism. "This is a step forwards," Julio Moreira, president of the gay rights group Arco-Iris, told the Extra newspaper. "Gay people have always been portrayed as marginal [characters] or in some negative way. It is important to show diversity and to raise political questions."

Toni Reis, president of the Brazilian Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transsexual Association, said that Foolish Heart was an important chance to break stereotypes and bring "visibility".

"It is a chance to show a reality and a vocabulary that can influence Brazilian culture a great deal.

"Today we are the country with the highest number of gay pride rallies in the world … but the nightly soap opera reaches every home in Brazil," said Reis, who made legal history in 2003 by securing a permanent visa for his British partner.

Reis said Brazil's television generally presented a "distorted image" of the gay community, with mentions of homosexuality restricted to three types of programme: comedy, crime, and religious broadcasts where evangelical preachers rail against homosexuality.

In contrast, among the gay characters in Foolish Heart are a lawyer, a professor, a journalist and a shopkeeper.

The set even has its own gay nightclub – the luxurious Barao da Gamboa, inspired by Rio's The Week club; in Portuguese, the club's initials, BG, also stand for Boate Gay, or Gay Club.

Gay soap fans have long called for an on-screen kiss, and in 2005 looked to have succeeded when the media announced that two male characters would do so in a soap called América.

The scene was eventually cut, however, provoking a kissing protest outside Brazil's Congress.

Foolish Heart's creators say that viewers hoping for a gay kiss will be disappointed. At a press conference to launch the telenovela, Gilberto Braga, another of its authors, was blunt: "The audience is not ready."

Reis said the decision showed "a lack of courage and daring. Kissing is a display of affection, and not an affront to society. Corruption, violence, accidents: these are affronts, and are shown on TV in excess."

He added: "I don't think it will be long before a gay kiss happens in a novela. If there is no kiss, then this will be a sign of prejudice."