Brazil: Gay Kiss At Popular Tourist Attraction Gets Push Back

"The Kiss"

Readers - special thanks to my Instinct Magazine colleague, David Lopez, for this guest post.

********************************************

High about the land in lush greenery of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are the Sugarloaf cable cars, an attraction that takes visitors to the popular destination through a picturesque viewing of Brazil and possibly one of the most iconic figures in the world, Christ the Redeemer.

The attraction moves between Praia Vermelha and the Sugarloaf Mountain, reaching a summit of 1,299 feet.

Visitors who take the cable cars, can have their photos taken in the waiting area’s Fotográfica to commemorate their trip to Rio.

Sample photos of people from around the world adorn the photo area, but recently one particular photo has been the topic of controversy as it includes a gay couple kissing at the attraction.

The Intercept reports that the photo exists because of 29-year-old manager Pedro Lotti, who asked the couple if it were okay to display it for all to see.

Lotti, who is not gay, is inclusive of everyone who visits the attraction and often asks people if they are a couple. If they responds “yes” he encourages them to kiss or embrace, inviting them to be themselves. When the couple in the photo in question decided to kiss, Lotti asked them for permission to display it—and he chose to put it front and center for all visitors to see.

Lotti shared with The Intercept:

“I did it specifically because roughly 70 percent of our employees here are gay, and they experience serious problems here because of this. It actually took a while to be able to have a photo of a gay couples kissing because most are afraid to do it. Always, at the entrance, I noticed that same-sex couples were cautious or scared to touch, hold hands, or kiss for their photos and they would walk to the photo area, and then walk away, and return various times, obviously afraid of how people would react.”

Pedro Lotti

Lotti shares that since the photo has been on display, there have been floods of complaints as to why it is there.

“Unfortunately, the large majority of people who react to the photo do so quite poorly," said Lotti. "We get complaints every day. They typically complain, specifically, that the photo is in the line of vision for children, and are angry that their kids specifically have seen the photo.”

Lotti refuses to remove the photo despite public opposition. Instead, he sees the photo as a teachable moment among parents and their children. He takes great satisfaction in the moments when parents use the photo to describe that love comes in all different forms.

Most of the complaints that come from parents use children as the excuse for wanting to censor, but according to Lotti, the children never demonstrate a negative reaction. It is the parents who bring up the issue because of their intolerance.

In a densely-Catholic country like Brazil, which has conservative ideologies, Lotti’s stance on the issue is making strides toward the inclusion and acceptance of the LGBTQ community.

(h/t: The Intercept)

Read more by David Lopez at InstinctMagazine.com.