Russia is considering banning Disney’s live -action remake of the Beauty and the Beast after it was revealed that one of the movie’s characters is gay, in possible breach of a law prohibiting “gay propaganda” directed at children.
Director Bill Condon has spoken openly about a “nice, exclusive gay moment” in the upcoming movie in an interview with gay British magazine Attitude.
The same-sex subplot involves the film’s main villain Gaston (Luke Evans) and his sidekick character LeFou, played by Josh Gad.
According to Condon, Le Fou is avowedly “confused about what he wants” and grapples on screen with his ambivalent feelings towards Gaston.
“LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston,” he told Attitude. “It’s somebody who’s just realizing that he has these feelings. And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And that’s what has its payoff at the end.”
But the “groundbreaking” role is not to everyone’s liking.
Vitaly Milonov, a member of the ruling United Russia party has urged Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky to organize an early screening of the movie to investigate whether it contravenes the country’s controversial law prohibiting the diffusion of “gay propaganda” among minors, the BBC reported.
“As soon as we get a copy of the film with relevant paperwork for distribution, we will consider it according to the law,” Medinsky said.
If the film —which one Russian lawmaker described as “shameless propaganda of sin” — is found to contain “elements” promoting homosexuality, he continued, the Russian government will seriously consider a total ban.
Russia turned heads in 2003 after its Parliament unanimously passed a federal law that puts heterosexual and gay relationships on unequal footing and makes the spreading of images depicting “non-traditional sexual predispositions” an offense punishable by fines.
But the Beauty and the Beast is not just making waves in Russia.
Last week, an Alabama theatre also canceled plans to show the film after finding out it was premiering Disney’s first openly gay character. One representative of the theatre justified the ban in a post on Facebook by saying the owners did not want to ” compromise on what the Bible teaches.”
For Condon, the backlash is “overblown.”
“My message is: This is a movie for everyone. I’m sad about that theater but there are 4,000 theaters showing the movie,” he told USA Today on Friday. “I hope everybody moves past that and just goes to take pleasure in what we made.”
Disney has long been pressured to feature openly gay characters and relationships in its shows and movies to increase sexual diversity on screen.
Last week, the entertainment giant aired its first ever gay kissing scene in an episode of Disney XD’s children show Star vs. the Forces of Evil.