Rio, March 3, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Ministry of Culture's "Right to be Different" program should be launched in the second half of this year, the Ministry's Audiovisual secretary, Orlando Senna, informed, yesterday (2), in Rio. The program is intended to make it possible for marginalized segments of society, such as homosexuals, Afro-Brazilians, Indians, and the physically handicapped, to produce audiovisuals.

Senna met yesterday afternoon with members of the Rainbow Movement and representatives of the homosexual community at the organization's headquarters in Botafogo, in the southern zone of the city. At the meeting the difficulties and deficiencies in the presentation of the image of homosexuals in audiovisual productions were analyzed.

Senna explained that projects can be presented by individuals who belong to the organizations related to the discriminated segments. The proposals are basically of three types, with a duration of one or two years: full-length films, movie documentaries, and programs for open TV channels. This is the fifth meeting of the program, which was formulated last October. (DAS)