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    ‘Lightyear’ Banned By United Arab Emirates Over Lesbian Kiss

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    lightyear movie

    Many fans are looking forward to Lightyear, a new spin on a familiar character first introduced in the Toy Story franchise. Unfortunately, the new film is being met with controversy over a lesbian kiss scene. At first, the kiss scene was going to be removed by Disney, until employees protested and had the scene placed back in the film. Now because of this, it seems like the United Arab Emirates have banned Lightyear as a result.

    The reveal that the upcoming movie Lightyear was banned came in an announcement by the United Arab Emirates’ Media Regulatory Office. They explained via Twitter that the film is a “violation of the country’s media content standards.”

    As they stated:

    “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.”

    It’s worth noting that they didn’t specifically refer to the kiss scene as the reason for banning the film. However, Executive Director Rashid Khalfan Al Nuaimi did say as much while speaking with Reuters:

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

    In any case, many of the users that are part of the country were happy with the decision. One such user even thanked the office for “saving our children.” Many people outside of the country, however, were disappointed with the decision. It’s worth noting that homosexuality is criminalized in the UAE.

    The new movie was directed by Angus MacLane. Chris Evans is voicing the character Buzz Lightyear, the toy version of which was voiced by Tim Allen in the original Toy Story films.

    The upcoming film Lightyear is scheduled for a release date on June 17, 2022.