Saudi Arabia has asked Disney to cut “LGBTQ references” from its latest Marvel superhero movie before it can be screened in the kingdom, an official told Agence France-Presse on Monday, April
Disney has so far declined the requested edits to the film “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” slated for release in early May, that amount to “barely 12 seconds” in which a lesbian character, America Chavez, refers to her “two moms,” said Nawaf Alsabhan, Saudi Arabia’s general supervisor of cinema classification.
Asked Monday about the film, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch, an employee for AMC Cinemas in Saudi Arabia said it had been “withdrawn.” Homosexuality is a potential capital offense in Saudi Arabia, known for its strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law which forms the basis of its entire judicial system.