Disney's 'Lightyear' has a gay kiss, and is now banned or censored several untri | Fortune

Contents:

• LIGHTYEAR: PIXAR RTOR SAME-SEX KISS FOLLOWG ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL BACKLASH
• DISNEY WILL RTORE GAY KISS TO LIGHTYEAR FOLLOWG “DON’T SAY GAY” BACKLASH
• 'LIGHTYEAR' STAR CHRIS EVANS LLS CRICS OF DISNEY PIXAR'S GAY KISSG SCENE ‘IDTS’
• SAME-SEX KISS RTORED PIXAR’S ‘LIGHTYEAR’ FOLLOWG STAFF UPROAR OVER ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL (EXCLUSIVE)
• LIGHTYEAR GETS WARNG SIGN FOR GAY KISS SCENE AT OKLAHOMA THEATER, SPARKG BACKLASH
• DISNEY REFED TO CUT GAY SCEN 'LIGHTYEAR,' MALAYSIA'S CENSORS SAY
• OKLAHOMA MOVIE THEATER POSTS 'WARNG' SIGN ABOUT 'LIGHTYEAR' GAY KISS, LOL CALLS THE MOVE 'BIGOTED'

LIGHTYEAR: PIXAR RTOR SAME-SEX KISS FOLLOWG ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL BACKLASH

Followg a year marked by turmoil wh s LGBTQ+ fan base and employe, Disney is releasg s first-ever movie that shows a gay kiss. Lightyear is not the first Disney film to be censored other untri for s pictn of gay characters. After ially refg to ment on Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, the pany faced a wave of cricism om employe and nsumers.

“Nearly every moment of overtly gay affectn is cut at Disney’s beht, regardls of when there is prott om both the creative teams and executive learship at Pixar, ” their letter read.

Beyond qutng s public stance, fans and employe also cricized Disney for donatg to Florida policians who supported the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

DISNEY WILL RTORE GAY KISS TO LIGHTYEAR FOLLOWG “DON’T SAY GAY” BACKLASH

: It was ially cut om the film, then rtored after ternal uproar when was revealed Disney had donated $200, 000 to Republin policians who supported Florida's “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which forbids discsns of sexual orientatn elementary school Chris Evans' Buzz is more fantastic than plastic Pixar's spiffy 'Lightyear'The iendship between Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Chris Evans) and his manr Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) is at the heart of "Lightyear. ': Chris Evans on 'Lightyear, ' playg bad guys and beg 'a romantic person'In March, the kiss was rtored after Pixar animators spoke out agast Disney  an open letter obtaed by Variety, sayg executiv had mand cuts "om nearly every moment of overtly gay affectn.

Playg a character like Alisha a high-profile movie the wake of “Don’t Say Gay” and other siar legislatn “means everythg, ” Aduba adds. Me unr fire for s ial silence regardg a Florida bill rtrictg classroom discsn of sexual orientatn and genr inty — dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by crics. Durg the tumult, Pixar employe lled out Disney executiv for cuttg “nearly every moment of overtly gay affectn” om the animatn stud’s films.

'LIGHTYEAR' STAR CHRIS EVANS LLS CRICS OF DISNEY PIXAR'S GAY KISSG SCENE ‘IDTS’

Variety reports that the rtoratn is happeng followg allegatns that Disney's rporate reviews have rulted the removal of LGBT ntent om the pany's scene volv Alicia Hawthorne, a Space Ranger who is also a gay woman of lor. "Lu, Insi Out, and Soul are some of the films ced, wh stud learship allegedly removg signifiers of queer inty om background shots among other has recently been mired ntroversy over s moary support of legislators behd Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, which prohibs the teachg of LGBTQ subjects the classroom.

Get our ee weekly email for all the latt cematic news om our film cric Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cematic email for eePixar has reportedly rtored a same-sex kiss shared between two characters the forthg Lightyear, after staff released an open letter cricisg Disney’s rponse to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” new animated film featur Chris Evans as the voice of Buzz Lightyear and seeks to tell the orig story of the beloved Toy Story character and his journey to fy and an exclive report by Variety, a source close to the productn has nfirmed that a kiss between proment female character Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba) and her female partner was restated last week. While the nature of the characters’ relatnship hadn’t been qutned by productn, their kiss had reportedly been news follows the release of an open letter on 9 March by Pixar staff and LGBTQ alli cricisg Disney for havg same-sex reprentatn s films “shaved down to cmbs” the letter, staff further lled on Disney to “immediately whdraw all fancial support om the legislators behd the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill” a handful of LGBTQ characters have been rporated Pixar’s feature films.

Notably, 2020 film Onward, the ma character Specter mak a reference to her film featur Chris Evans as the voice of Buzz Lightyear (YouTube)The same year, the stud released short film Out, about a closeted gay man’s stggle to e out to his rponse to the Pixar staff letter, Out director Steven Hunt told Variety: “I stand by my lleagu.

SAME-SEX KISS RTORED PIXAR’S ‘LIGHTYEAR’ FOLLOWG STAFF UPROAR OVER ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL (EXCLUSIVE)

The move followed a a strongly-word letter to Walt Disney CEO Bob Chapek om Pixar's LGBTQIA+ employe and their alli sent objectg to his cisn not to ph back more forcefully agast Florida's ntroversial "Don't Say Gay" bill. Acrdg to Variety, the film has been banned the Gulf natns of Sdi Arabia, the Uned Arab Emirat and Kuwa, where homosexual nduct is still illegal.

LIGHTYEAR GETS WARNG SIGN FOR GAY KISS SCENE AT OKLAHOMA THEATER, SPARKG BACKLASH

' | Cred: Pixar News that Disney had removed s first on-screen same-sex kiss me amid reports that the pany had donated large sums of money to Florida policians supportg the "Don't Say Gay" bill, which stat, part, that nversatns around sexual orientatn and genr inty "may not occur krgarten through gra 3. Disney will let have a ltle gay kiss as a treat, and as a last-dch attempt at beatg allegatns of homophobic censorship.

The move follows wispread outrage over the rporatn’s centrist rponse to Florida’s so-lled Don’t Say Gay bills, which will ban discsn of anythg related to LGBTQ+ people elementary school classrooms, and will force teachers to out trans stunts to their rponse, Disney, which is one of the largt media nglomerat the world and therefore has massive sway over polics this oligarchy-drsed-as-a-mocracy, issued a statement that basilly boiled down to tepid both-sis-ism.

DISNEY REFED TO CUT GAY SCEN 'LIGHTYEAR,' MALAYSIA'S CENSORS SAY

”That clus $249, 126 to members of the Florida legislature who voted favor of the Don’t Say Gay bill, and an addnal $50, 000 to Republin ernor Ron DeSantis, per a report om the acuntabily journalism project Popular Informatn. ”Acrdg to the pany, showsg gay characters is enough. DeSantis might be pleased to know, however, that Disney execs reportedly cut “nearly every moment of overtly gay affectn, ” acrdg to a letter released by LGBTQ+ Pixar employe and alli.

"Lightyear" actor Chris Evans, who plays the tular role Walt Disney’s new Pixar movie, has rpond to crics who say the film’s kissg scene between two female characters ph a pro-gay agenda. (Getty Imag)"Every time there’s been social advancement as we wake up, the Amerin story, the human story is one of nstant social awakeng and growth and that’s what mak good, " Evans 'S SHORT FILM ‘OUT’ FEATURES FIRST GAY MAIN CHARACTERThe ment as some crics of the film have argued the cisn to clu LGBTQ reprentatn and a scene wh a gay married uple kissg a film marketed to children was on-screen kiss tak place between Hawthorne, a female lead voiced by Uzo Aduba, and another female, PIXAR'S 'LIGHTYEAR' SEES SAME-SEX KISS RESTORED AMID CONTROVERSY WITH QUEER CHARACTER: REPORTIt was reportedly removed om the film earlier this year, amid ntroversy over Disney’s quietns over Florida’s "Don’t Say Gay" bill that barred nversatns about LGBTQ inty K-12 classrooms, Variety reported March of this year, cg "a source close to the productn. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTERIt will not be shown the Uned Arab Emirat or Malaysia, due to the on-screen gay kiss.

OKLAHOMA MOVIE THEATER POSTS 'WARNG' SIGN ABOUT 'LIGHTYEAR' GAY KISS, LOL CALLS THE MOVE 'BIGOTED'

On March 9, LGBTQ employe and alli at Pixar Animatn Studs sent a jot statement to Walt Disney Company learship claimg that Disney executiv had actively censored “overtly gay affectn” s feature films. The stunng allegatn — ma as part of a larger prott over the pany’s lack of public rponse to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill — did not clu which Pixar films had weathered the censorship, nor which specific creative cisns were cut or altered. Followg the uproar surroundg the Pixar employe’ statement and Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s handlg of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, however, the kiss was restated to the movie last week.