“Lightear” features a female character, voiced by actress Uzo Aduba, who briefly kisses her female partner in a scene that led to a ban in the United Arab Emirates.
Malaysia’s film censors said on Friday that it was Disney’s decision to remove the animated film “Lightyear” from cinemas in the country after refusing to cut scenes promoting homosexuality.
The Film Censorship Board said it approved the film under parental guidance for those under the age of 13, subject to the amendments.
The board said in a statement that the scenes and dialogues that “contain elements promoting the LGBT lifestyle that violate key aspects of the guidelines on film censorship” were ordered to be “cut and mute”.
“However, the film distributors did not agree to follow the instructions” and instead decided to cancel the screening, the board said, adding that it would not compromise on any LGBTQ scenes.
The statement did not specify which scenes violated censorship guidelines.
“Lightear” features a female character, voiced by actress Uzo Aduba, who briefly kisses her female partner in a scene in the $200 million film.
Authorities across much of the Muslim world have banned “Lightyear” from playing in cinemas because it involves a brief kiss between a gay couple.
Many Muslims consider gays and lesbians to be sinful, and many Muslim-majority countries consider homosexual relations to be a crime.
The United Arab Emirates also announced that it would ban Pixar animated features from being shown in theaters because of what.