Lebanon bans Pixar movie over same-sex kiss

BEIRUT — Lebanon won’t be screening Walt Disney’s new Pixar movie “Lightyear” over a same-sex kiss, according to Reuters. Lebanon joins at least 14 Middle Eastern and Asian countries in its decision to ban the film.

Here’s what we know:

    • A local film distributor confirmed to L’Orient Today that the Lebanese authorities have prohibited the screening of the “Toy Story” spin-off “Lightyear” because the film features a same-sex couple who share a kiss.

    • Article 534 of Lebanon’s penal code criminalizes same-sex sexual conduct, punishing “any sexual intercourse contrary to the order of nature” with up to one year in prison.

    • The local film distributor added that since Walt Disney refused to make a scene cut to the same-gender kiss at issue, the Lebanese authorities ruled against screening the film “Lightyear.” The decision contradicts the country’s reputation for being a stronghold of tolerance and freedom of expression in a deeply conservative region.

    • Lebanese General Security was not immediately available for comment or further information.

    • This is not the first time Lebanon has banned a film over controversial issues. In 2018, the Lebanese authorities banned Steven Spielberg's film “The Post” on grounds of the director’s associations with Israel, a country with which Lebanon is technically at war.

    • In 2016, Lebanon’s local film distributors self-censored Oscar-winning film “Spotlight,” which featured the story of how journalists in the Boston Globe exposed the case of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests in the United States.