Disney refuses Saudi Arabia’s demand to cut LGBTQ reference from ‘Doctor Strange’ sequel

Saudi Arabia wanted Disney to cut a scene with same-sex relationship references from Marvel's upcoming film, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness", but the studio is not willing to do so. 

 As per reports, the film isn't banned in the Middle-Eastern nation yet though, as talks are still underway. The film releases on May 6 worldwide. 

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Reports claimed that Saudi Arabia banned the film due to the presence of lesbian character America Chavez (played by Xochitl Gomez). However, it appears that the real reason for the nation's hesitation in letting the film release is a scene where the character refers to her "two moms".

Nawaf Alsabhan, Saudi Arabia's general supervisor of cinema classification, refuted the reports that the film has been banned in the country. 

Speaking to the news agency AFP, he said, "It will never be banned. There's no reason to ban the film. It's a simple edit...so far they have refused. But we haven't closed the door. We're still trying."

Recently, Warner Bros had accepted a similar request from the Chinese authorities and cut same-sex romance references in "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore". This allowed the release of the film in the lucrative market.