A Brazilian man living in Malta has claimed that police stopped him from kissing another man while celebrating carnival with friends.

The alleged incident happened on Tuesday when Iago Nascimento, 30, and his friends were attending carnival festivities on St Anne Street in Floriana. 

According to Nascimento, he and another male member of the group shared a “normal” kiss while the group was queueing to use portable toilets. It was at this point that they were approached by two police officers. 

“They told us we’re not allowed to do that in a public place. At first, they were calm, but when I asked if they would say the same thing if we were a man and woman, they became less friendly,” he said. 

Nascimento said he had never had any problems with public displays of affection in Malta prior to Tuesday's incident.

“I didn’t continue to argue because my friends and I are all immigrants and don’t want to cause trouble, so we walked away. But the experience has left me feeling sad and frustrated,” he added. 

Nascimento, who has been living in Malta for a year on a digital nomad visa, said that up until this episode he had felt very safe in Malta. 

“I never had any problems with public displays of affection before, whether kissing someone I was in a relationship with, or holding hands at the beach. But now I’m wondering whether I should be more discreet if there are police officers nearby,” he said. 

The Brazilian said that prior to living in Malta, he had spent two months living in Montenegro, where he had a “terrible” experience due to widespread homophobia. 

A friend of Nascimento who was part of the group when the alleged incident occurred confirmed they were approached by police immediately after two of them shared a kiss. 

“I didn’t hear what was said exactly but the police did not look happy,” he said, adding that he had chosen to come to Malta because of its LGBTIQ+ friendly policies.  

Both men said they were “100 per cent sure” the police were real officers and not fellow revellers in costume.  

Nascimento said he had filed a police report regarding the incident.

When contacted, the police said they were dealing with the matter.