Disney’s Lightyear homosexual grooming cartoon is being banned in 14 Asian countries: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Lebanon, China, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Jordan and 2 other countries which are not named in any of the reports.
The United Arab Emirates has banned Pixar’s Lightyear from cinemas after its inclusion of a lesbian kiss.
Malaysia is also set to outlaw the animated blockbuster and other Muslim-majority nations could follow suit in response to the same-sex scene in the animated blockbuster.
The UAE, like many other countries in the wider Middle East, is a Muslim-led nation that criminalises same-sex relationships.
The Emirates, home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, announced through its Media Regulatory Office of the country’s Ministry of Youth and Culture that the film would not be opening in the country this Thursday.
The film ‘is not licensed for public screening in all cinemas in the UAE, due to its violation of the country’s media content standards’, the office said in a tweet.
‘The office confirms that all films screened in cinemas across the country are subject to follow-up and evaluation before the date of screening to the public, to ensure the safety of the circulated content according to the appropriate age classification.’
The office did not elaborate on the tweet and did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press.
The tweet included an image of the film’s poster, with the profile image of its main character Buzz Lightyear with a ‘no’ symbol over it in red.
Cinemas in the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, had already advertised showing times for the film.
But over the weekend, a social media campaign with the Arabic hashtag ‘Ban Showing Lightyear in the Emirates’ caught the attention of conservative Emiratis.
They described showing a lesbian couple on screen as being against their culture and religion.
The movie, with actor Chris Evans voicing the inspiration for the Buzz Lightyear action figure from the Toy Story films, includes a female character voiced by actress Uzo Aduba kissing her female partner.
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