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Onward Banned In Middle East Due To Lesbian Reference

March 7, 2020 | Posted by Joseph Lee
Pixar Disney Onward 4

Deadline reports that Disney and Pixar’s new film Onward has been banned in several Middle East markets due to a reference to a lesbian relationship between two secondary characters.

The scene features two teenage elf brothers, voiced by Chris Pratt and Tom Holland, who disguise themselves as their mother’s centaur boyfriend Officer Bronco. They talk about parenting with two female police officers. Lena Waithe’s purple cyclops officer says: “It’s not easy being a new parent – my girlfriend’s daughter got me pulling my hair out, okay?” The character is being called Disney’s first openly gay character.

Now the film has been banned in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. So far, the Middle East markets Bahrain, Lebanon and Egypt are still showing it. Russia censored the scene by changing the word from “girlfriend” to “partner”, and the local version doesn’t mention her gender. Russia previously censored Rocketman and Avengers: Endgame last year for LGBT references. Beauty and the Beast was previously banned in Kuwait and Malysia due to a LGBT “moment”, while Russia gave it a 16+ rating.

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Onward, Joseph Lee