Watch: Hunky Brazilian stars kiss to support gay equality

Two of Brazil’s hottest actors have shown where they stand when it comes to homophobia – by passionately locking lips.

Bruno Gagliasso and João Vicente de Castro, who are both straight, shared the smooch on stage at Brazil’s GQ Men of the Year awards on Thursday in Rio de Janeiro.

Along with a picture of the kiss that he posted on Instagram, Gagliasso said that the gesture was targeted at “all the card-carrying macho men, the hypocritical and the prejudiced…”

He added that there is northing wrong with “showing affection and love between men.”

The post had almost 90,00 likes at the time of publishing this article.

“It was a kiss of hope, of love,” Gagliasso later told Quem. “[It was] to show that we are working against intolerance, small-mindedness and hypocrisy.”

He also revealed that the two actors had not rehearsed the kiss so that it would seem natural and not staged.

While LGBT Brazilians have many rights, including marriage equality and adoption by gays and lesbians, the community continues to face some of the highest levels of violence in the world.

According to LGBT rights group, Gay Group of Bahia, 326 LGBT people were murdered in Brazil last year; almost one person a day. Transgender women in particular bear the brunt of much of the violence.