This is what happens when ignorance and homophobia get together.
Disney-Pixar’s Onward introduces us to the first openly gay character in the history of animated movies: Agent Specter, who in a quick joke, talks about her girlfriend and her daughter who “makes her lose her mind”
Lena Waithe, the voice of Agent Specter in this cartoon, had the idea to let her character talk about a girlfriend rather than a husband. She told the director: “Can I say it? Isn’t it cooler? The word husband does not work”.
Indeed the word girlfriend worked a lot better, but this was enough to scare those homophobic countries like Russia and Saudis which just cannot accept Agent Specter’s homosexuality. So, just in a time when the world economy has to deal with a frightening enemy, this damned COVID -19, Saudi countries have decided to ban the release of the film in their cinemas.
Russia instead, decided to opt for a “lighter” censorship, changing the word “girlfriend” with a more generic “partner” and to obscure and neutralise all those words that specify the gender of the policewoman.
Strangely though, Lebanon, Egypt and Bahrain have decided to release the film with no censorship.
In all those countries where the Corona Virus is unfortunately reaping victims and where special restrictive measures have been taken to contain the infections, Onward will be released after mid-April.
Then they blame the LGBT+ community for spreading a “wrong” ideology? Well… who is spreading hate here? The LGBT+ community or those ignorant homophobes?
