Christiaan knows the gay scene in Rio. He is a 30-year-old musician and composer, one of Brazil's most talented. He has played the clubs along Copocabana and seen it all. He is straight himself, married to Mariana. But he offers a lecture on gay life in Brazil.

He says that in a macho Latino culture, homosexuality is both despised and accepted, licentious and licensed. Unlike in the United States, police never hassle gay men here. At 1 a.m., just a few blocks behind the most elegant hotels in the city, Christiaan drives his car down a street called Duvivier. He says that gays congregate at the American Bar, the Lido Bar and the Pussycat Disco Club.