Amaury Lorenzo and Diego Martins are starring as an on-screen couple dubbed as “Kelmiro” in the Brazilian telenovela ‘Terra e Paixão’, which translates to ‘Land and Passion’ in English.
Lorenzo is portraying the character of Ramiro, while Martins is playing the role of his love interest named Kelvin. In the show, Ramiro is trying to stop his feelings for Kelvin because he believes that it’s wrong to like a man.
Kelvin, on the other hand, believes that they should stand against the prejudice and fight for their love. In real life, Martins is openly gay, and he grew up with parents and family who are accepting of the LGBTQ+ community. <3
“This issue was never an issue at home because my parents had many gay and lesbian family members, even before I was born. That made all the difference. They graduated with a different mind, they were always very connected to the arts. So, there was never a worry about what I would become, but a fear of what I would suffer,” the actor shared in an October 2023 interview with Extra Globo.
He further expressed,
“I have always feared suffering prejudice and losing work because of who I am. Anyone who puts their face forward and says “I’m gay” runs the risk of not being accepted, no matter how talented they are. But I had no other choice, and I didn’t want to. I prioritize who I am and my freedom.”
Meanwhile, Lorenzo publicly came out in the same interview, stating:
“I consider myself an LGBTQIA+ man. It may be that soon I will marry another man, cis or trans, a woman, cis or trans… I know that the public is curious to know about my sexuality. I have no problem with that. The only issue is when the subject comes above my work as an actor.”
Related: Introducing Brazilian Actor Amaury Lorenzo Who Recently Came Out
More recently, Lorenzo’s Ramiro and Martins’ Kelvin finally shared a kiss, which the viewers have been waiting for!
Aside from the long-awaited Kelmiro kissing scene, Lorenzo also reportedly won an award, which is another good news. However, homophobic and discriminative people have done it yet again… *roll eyes, face-palm*
Lorenzo revealed via Instagram Stories that he has received death threats. His lengthy post as per Out reads:
“I’ve received death threats over the course of the night, besides offenses regarding who I am and what my job is. Everything is in the hands of Justice. All of this… because of an award. Last night, this morning, and this afternoon were all difficult. Hell-ish. That’s why I’ve been absent from social media. However, as an artist, I emanate love. And people who follow me also emanate love. Not death.
But 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.”
Sources: extra.globo.com, out.com
Thankfully I can relate to Diego in that my parents also had gay & lesbian friends. So when I finally got the courage to tell them I’m gay it seemed so easy yet weirdly I was still very scared to. Thankful to have been raised near gay men, I had 3 gay uncles. So I honestly think that helped alot as well. Encouraging to see Diego being able to be out & proud as a gay man I know alot of Latin areas can be extremely homophobic.