Brazil's gays stage 'kiss in' after TV kiss cut

BRASILIA, Brazil - Hundreds of Brazilian gays staged a "kiss in" protest after a television network censored what would have been the first televised male gay kiss in Latin America's largest country.

Cheered on by activists waving rainbow flags, male couples kissed in front of Brazil's Congress after the Globo network axed the eagerly awaited scene in its "America" soap opera.

"Let's show this country how gays can kiss," yelled one protester, as activists accused Globo of homophobia.

Tens of millions of extra viewers tuned into the final episode of America on Friday to see Junior, the son of a powerful rancher, kiss farmhand Zeca.

Ratings soared after the soap's author said she planned to show a scene considered taboo in Brazilian soaps, even though they routinely show men and women involved in what would pass as soft porn in Europe and the United States.

In the final cut of the episode, Globo's management chose to show a "version it thought most appropriate for an 8 pm showing of a soap opera," the network said in a statement on Monday.

"We fought for it and I cannot deny that I was frustrated it wasn't shown," America's author, Gloria Perez, told the O'Globo daily newspaper.

Gay rights campaigners hoped the kiss would change attitudes in Brazil. Segments of the society remain openly hostile to homosexuals even though they are widely accepted in big cities, and one state allows gay civil unions.

"Of course we're disappointed, they used gays to boost ratings and then they didn't show something completely natural to us," said Roberto Kaiser, a leader of the Brazilian Gay Association who took part in the protest.

- REUTERS