Watch: 'Big Brother' Brazil Had Its First Gay Kiss, then Controversy Followed

Of all the "Big Brother" franchises in the world, Brazil sits near the top in popularity. "Televisions, computer monitors, smart phones – all are locked into 'Big Brother Brasil,' the local franchise of the reality show that is internationally known, but whose fan base and buzz is perhaps nowhere greater than in Brazil," wrote Bloomberg News earlier this month. "Two decades on, the local edition, featuring a group of strangers competing for cash and glory under one roof, is still something of a cultural contagion, with tens of millions of willingly afflicted viewers."

With a substantial portion of Brazil in quarantine, the show has a captive audience, especially with sporting and other public gatherings closed down. And the producers knew what their audiences wanted. "After it transpired in 2020 that participants debating feminism and racism translates into high ratings, the latest season was strategically planned to include a racially and sexually diverse group of contestants," wrote Variety this week. "Nine of the 20 participants identify as Afro-Brazilian, and many housemates are members of the LGBTQ community."

In February the show garnered huge ratings in an episode in which Lucas Koka Penteado and Gilberto Nogueira shared the first gay kiss in the 21-year history of the show. "Lucas then chose to self-evict after being accused of using Gil to further his game," reported Screen Rant. "Seemingly out of nowhere, Lucas and Gilberto shared a kiss during the latest 'BBB21' party, which became the first gay kiss in the history of the show. For context, Gil had declared himself to be gay since day one. In turn, Lucas had never spoken out about being bisexual and had only pursued women in the house thus far. After the kiss, Lucas came out as a bisexual man. However, some houseguests had a hard time believing Lucas and went as far as claiming that he was using Gilberto's sexuality to further his own popularity in the competition."

"I tried to be myself in every way," said the 24-year-old actor, before quitting after the angry backlash from fellow housemates. Lesbian psychologist, Lumena Aleluia told the actor: "You're appropriating a collective issue in favor of an issue that is yours, individual... you're appropriating a historic struggle, collective, in favor of a selfish demand," Variety wrote. Two other bisexual housemates also criticized Penteado, saying "there are many ways to come out."

On the episode, singer Karol Koncá was evicted with 99.1% of the votes, the highest percentage ever for a contestant on the show. Variety reported that on the show she "criticized Penteado's bisexuality as fake and... had repeatedly been accused of psychological abuse against him." The following week Aleluia was also eliminated.

The episode was praised for addressing issues about race and gender, and gave TV Globo, Brazil's largest free-to-air network, its best audience ratings in a decade. The day Konká was "evicted," Globo obtained 63% of the audience share. Overall, 40 million people – almost a fifth of Brazil's 211-million population – watch the reality show each day, which is 5.5 million daily viewers more than last year, Globo told Variety.

But after the episode aired, "The LGBTI + National Alliance issued a disapproval note against the 'biphobic attacks' suffered by Lucas Penteado in the 'BBB 21'," reported the Brazilian website UOL.

"What the participants of this edition, some of them being LGBTIs, demonstrated at dawn on February 7th was an attack directed at the participant Lucas Koka Penteado, reducing his existence as a bisexual person and excluding him from that social environment, causing him to communicate his desire to leave the house due to such psychological pressure, " the LGBTI + National Alliance statement read.

"A historic moment of emotion at the BBB, with the first kiss between two men and exchanges of affection, which was followed by prejudiced, stigmatizing, discriminatory acts and the impossibility of sexual orientation. Brazil shows its face. Unfortunately, it is a country in which many people are extremely macho, LGBTIphobic, racist; and the television program mirrors this common behavior that occurs outside the cameras."

Speaking to UOL, Toni Reis, president of the Alliance, also said that associate lawyers are already preparing to file a lawsuit against those responsible for the attacks. "We are doing an extrajudicial notification, because it was very strong. We are, our bisexual lawyers. It is the first time that a person has to go out because of a kiss, because he was persecuted," he said.