A 31-year-old psychiatrist competing on the wildly popular "Big Brother
Brasil 8" ended a week of rabid speculation by acknowledging he is gay.
Marcelo, from Uberaba in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas
Gerais, came out to another contestant this week -- making headlines
throughout the country.
"I am a normal person," he said, but came clean
when Thalita asked if he had a boyfriend at the moment. "Everyone knows
now, so I can talk. There is someone who fills my heart," Marcelo
replied.
Signs were there that Marcelo was gay, according to G Online,
a gay Brazilian website. Asked about his sexual orientation a day
earlier, Marcelo ahd said, "No one can prove anything, so there's just
rumor. This is a matter that only concerns me and the people with whom
I'm involved. To explain all this and talk about this is not why I'm
here" on the program.
Even before Marcelo came out, one gay Brazilian-American blogger had
declared that the bearded and beefy Marcelo would become an icon for
the "bear community" in Brazil.
In his official BBB8 blog, Marcelo later wrote: "I know that many will
condemn me for coming out, but I don't fear something so natural. God
made me this way, and I have pride in myself."