LOS ANGELES: US gay activists are worried that comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's new film, Bruno, could reinforce negative stereotypes about homosexuals just as they are making gains in the fight for rights such as same-sex marriage.

Cohen, who scored a surprise hit in 2006 with Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, portrays a flamboyant gay Austrian fashion reporter in the new film that was to premiere yesterday in London and opens in the United States on July 10.

The studio releasing Bruno says the film's intent is to satirize homophobia, but some gay advocates are wary.