Brazil: Lesbian kiss delayed

It’s been a big month for gay rights in Brazil. Last week the supreme court gave gay couples the same legal rights as heterosexual married couples. And this week, the media is breathlessly covering what it says will be the first gay kiss ever shown on a Brazilian soap opera. The much publicized kiss was supposed to air last night on a program called “Love and Revolution”, but the show’s writer, Tiago Santiago, said he decided to push it back a day to attract more viewers. Soap operas here have had gay characters before, but this will be the first same gender on-screen make-out. Santiago heralded the kiss as “one more step forward in the fight against homophobia,” but this reporter wonders whether two beautiful women locking lips on screen is really that controversial a move.