Out Brazilian actor received death threats after his same-sex kiss on TV

An out Brazilian actor says he’s received anti-LGBTQ+ messages and even death threats over his performance in a primetime soap opera.

Amaury Lorenzo stars in Terra e Paixão, a telenovela airing on Globo, described as the largest commercial TV network in Latin America. Since the series’ May premiere, Lorenzo has played closeted cowboy Ramiro, who has been involved in a slow-burning flirtation with queer activist Kelvin (played by fellow out actor Diego Martins). The characters’ romance has become so popular that fans have come up with a portmanteau for them: “Kelmiro,” according to Gay Times.

Related:

Brazil makes homophobic hate speech punishable by prison

The nation’s high court said it had a “constitutional imperative” to do so.

It’s rare to see a same-sex kiss in Globo’s primetime soaps, Out noted. But earlier this week, the network aired an episode of Terra e Paixão in which Ramiro and Kelvin locked lips for the first time.

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Prior to the episode’s December 12 premiere, the results of Globo’s “Best of the Year Awards” leaked, with Lorenzo named the network’s “Breakout Actor of the Year.”

But what should have been a week of celebration for Lorenzo turned ugly. The actor revealed via his Instagram stories that the award and onscreen kiss resulted in a deluge of hateful messages.

“I’ve received death threats over the course of the night, besides offenses regarding who I am and what my job is,” he wrote, according to Out. “All of this… because of an award.”

“Last night, this morning, and this afternoon were all difficult. Hellish. That’s why I’ve been absent from social media,” he continued. “However, as an artist, I emanate love. And people who follow me also emanate love. Not death.”

In a second post, Lorenzo revealed some of the painful experiences that led him to defy anti-LGBTQ+ hate.

“For Amaury the child, who, at nine years old, was shot on his back because he took ballet classes… For Amaury the artist, who had to choose between having food or having a residence, or neither of them… For Amaury the Black man, who continues to be made invisible and constantly hears that he isn’t Black… For Amaury the LGBTQ+ man, who has witnessed death standing right in front of him for the simple fact of being who he is… For all of this, for Amaury, a death threat no longer has that strength,” he wrote.

Lorenzo came out as “an LGBTQIA+ man” in October. “It’s possible that in the future I could marry another man, cis or trans, or a woman, cis or trans,” he told Globo’s Extra, according to Gay Times.

He also explained how anti-LGBTQ+ hate had touched his life and the lives of those around him.

“I’m a theater teacher, and I had three students murdered for being LGBTQ+. One was killed by his father. I welcomed a friend into my home who was beaten for being with another man on the street,” he said. “I’ve had former students expelled by evangelical parents for being gay. How can I not be in this fight?”