An Alabama theatre owner is banning Disney’s new, live-action musical version of “Beauty and the Beast” because he doesn’t want to expose his customers to the new gay character in the film.
“It is with great sorrow that I have to tell our customers that we will not be showing ‘Beauty and the Beast,’” read a message on the Facebook page of the Henagar Drive-In Theatre.
“If we can not take our 11-year-old granddaughter and 8-year-old grandson to see a movie we have no business watching it,” the message said. “If I can’t sit through a movie with God or Jesus sitting by me then we have no business showing it. We are first and foremost Christians.”
“We will not compromise on what the Bible teaches. We will continue to show family-oriented films so you can feel free to come watch wholesome movies without worrying about sex, nudity, homosexuality and foul language.”
CNN reports that the theater’s Facebook page promoted showings of “Passengers,” a sci-fi romance with Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, and the upcoming entry in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series.
CNN affiliate WHNT in Huntsville, Alabama, saved a screenshot of the message before it was removed Friday evening:
Director Bill Condon says the character of LeFou, sidekick to the villainous Gaston, has an “exclusively gay moment” in the PG-rated movie.
The New York Daily news calls LeFou “Disney’s first, unambiguously gay character” in its review.
Variety’s reviewer says LeFou is “silly and fawning, but I must have missed the memo where that spells ‘gay.’”
Watch the film’s trailer below:
