Fez – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait are banning Marvel’s latest movie “Eternals” over a scene depicting a same-sex kiss.
The scene in question involves a character enjoying a kiss with his husband Ben, played by Lebanese actor Haaz Sleiman.
Sleiman said that he aspired the scene to raise awareness to the plight and oppression of LGBTQ people around the world.
Eternals was set for release in the Gulf on November 11, but that date has been canceled due to Disney’s refusal to delete the scene. Director Chloe Zhao recently expressed her, and Marvel, unwillingness to cut any scenes from the movie to please censors.
In some parts of the middle east, homosexuality is still banned. In Saudi Arabia and Qatar, LGBTQ people are often sentenced to death, as the behavior is seen as contradicting local Islamic law.
The ban comes after similar restrictions in the region for other films depicting scenes of intimacy and same-sex couples.
Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia reopened movie theaters in 2018 after a 35-year ban, the country still prohibits films with LGBTQ material.
A same-sex kiss was deleted from “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” in 2019 so that it could be released in the United Arab Emirates.
