Disney Pixar’s new movie “Lightyear” is banned in several Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), due to the highly publicized same-sex kiss that the studio chose to include.
The scene was initially cut from the movie but was reinstated after the Disney controversy over Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, which some critics dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The Hollywood Reporter (THR) wrote that in “Lightyear,” a female character named Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba) greets her female partner with a kiss. This moment is what allegedly led to the movie getting banned in parts of the Middle East.
“Lightyear” was banned “due to its violation of the country’s media content standards,” the country’s media regulator said in a tweet, not specifying which standard had been violated. Industry insiders speculate it’s because of the kiss between two female characters.
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