Toy Story spinoff Lightyear is being banned in the Middle East over same-sex kiss

Disney and Pixar’s hotly-anticipatedLightyearwill be banned across 11 Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

The United Arab Emirates, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai, posted a tweet showing Buzz crossed out with a red line. In their statement on Monday, they said it was down to a "violation of the country’s media content standards."

It read: "The Media Regulatory Office announced that the animated film Lightyear, which is scheduled for release on 16th June, is not licensed for public screening in all cinemas in the UAE, due to its violation of the country’s media content standards."

Media Regulatory Office Executive Director Rashid Khalfan Al Nuaimi has since told Reuters the film was banned because of the inclusion of "homosexual" characters in several scenes.

A source also told The Wrap that Lightyear didn't receive release certificates for Malaysia, Indonesia, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan and Lebanon.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

The scene in question includes a space ranger called Alisha (voiced by Uzo Aduba) and her partner who greet each other with a kiss on the lips, according to TheHollywood Reporter.

The film's producer Galyn Susman said she assumed the movie would not be shown in China either. However, Disney has not yet received an official answer from their authorities.



She told Reuters: "We're not going to cut out anything, especially something as important as the loving and inspirational relationship that shows Buzz what he's missing by the choices that he's making, so that's not getting cut.

"It's great that we are a part of something that's making steps forward in the social inclusion capacity, but it's frustrating that there are still places that aren't where they should be."

Indy100 has reached out to Disney and UAE government for comment.



Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.