Pixar’s Lightyear, a Toy Story prequel that tells the origin story of Buzz Lightyear, has already been banned in 14 countries for a brief scene that includes a same-sex kiss between space ranger Alisha Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba) and her wife. But the movie has faced bigotry and backlash related to the kiss here in the United States as well. The latest example? A movie theater in Oklahoma recently posted a sign warning patrons about the scene and promising to “fast-forward through [it].”
As NBC News reports, the 89er, a theater in Kingfisher, Oklahoma — a small town of roughly 5,000 people about 50 miles outside of Oklahoma City — posted the sign over the weekend. “Attention Parents: The management of this theatre discovered after booking ‘Lightyear’ that there is a same-sex kissing scene within the first 30 minutes of the Pixar movie,” it read. “We will do all we can to fast-forward through that scene, but it might not be exact. We apologize for any inconvenience this late discovery of this scene causes.”
The sign has since been taken down, but of course, it’s sad and infuriating that it ever went up in the first place. The kiss in question isn’t a steamy make-out that would be inappropriate for children; it’s a brief, chaste peck between two loving partners, something no one would bat an eye at from a heterosexual couple.
“I am not shocked to see something like this happening in my state, but it does break my heart that young LGBTQ+ Oklahomans are made to feel like something is wrong with them,” Alex Wade, the deputy director of Oklahomans for Equality, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, told NBC. “This is why we develop chapters in rural Oklahoma to show everyone that there are people in their corner.”
As Wade pointed out, issuing a warning to parents over the kiss implies that same-sex affection is somehow “dirty” or morally wrong. (It should go without saying, but just to reiterate: it is neither.)
“When same-sex couples show affection, even the most chaste of kisses, it is sexualized and treated as if it were explicit,” he said. “If this were a heterosexual couple, the theater would never even think of skipping it, because heterosexual couples are given the grace to be intimate without being shamed.”
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