Pixar’s latest film Lightyear is also the latest Disney film to be banned in the Middle East due to LGBTQ+ content.
Lightyear, which features a same-sex kiss between two women (Hawthorne, voiced by Uzo Aduba, and her partner), has been banned in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for its inclusion of the kiss.
What’s truly funny is that Disney almost did the censoring itself. Back in March, it was leaked that Disney had been censoring depictions of “overtly gay affection” from its films, including Lightyear. The original version had the same-sex kiss removed by Disney, but was added back in after backlash.
It is very strange that this only seems to happen to Disney films, and that those films always have blink-and-you’ll-miss it gay moments. It’s almost like this whole thing is a psy-op by Disney to trick us into thinking the studio is a strong ally fighting for gay rights as a corporation, and Russia and the Middle East and all the people in those countries are “evil.” But that would be crazy, right? Right??
Either way, here are six recent Disney films that have been banned for their queer content.
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Back in 2017, Disney celebrated its “first gay character,” Lefou, in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. The only confirmation he was gay was one second of him dancing with a man in a crowd scene, but still, it was enough to get the film banned in Kuwait.
Next up was the Pixar film Onward, which features a cyclops cop voiced by Lena Waithe who has one line when she mentions her girlfriend and says the popular gay catchphrase “it gets better.” The scene was cut in Russia, and the movie was banned in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
Marvel’s first gay superhero also got his movie banned. In 2021, Marvel released The Eternals, which featured Phastos, a gay, married man, and his husband. The film was banned in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar after Disney refused to edit out the scene involving Phastos and his husband.
Steven Speilberg’s adaptation of West Side Story was the next Disney film to get banned. In it, Speilberg updated the character Anybodys to be trans, played by nonbinary actor Iris Menas. Because of that, the film was banned in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
Despite America Chavez’s lesbianism being completely absent in the latest Doctor Strange movie, the film was still banned in Saudi Arabia and possibly Kuwait due to a small scene where she talks about having two lesbian moms.
Lightyear is the latest Disney film to be banned overseas for LGBTQ+ content. It’s been banned in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for its inclusion of a same-sex kiss between two women.
