KUWAIT CITY, March 10: A British celebrity website “Newsy” revealed that Disney Company has banned the cartoon “Onward” in many GCC countries, including Kuwait, because it includes a gay character, saying the decision is in response to a request made by the aforementioned countries to ban the film in their territory, reports Al- Qabas daily.

The website said the cartoon includes the first openly gay Cyclops officer voiced by lesbian actress Lena Waithe. It pointed out that Kuwait, KSA, Oman and Qatar took a step to ban the movie altogether, while Russian distributors opted to censor this particular line from the film. Preview screenings for Onward launched in North America Thursday night with $2 million and it’s expected to dominate the US box office this weekend and collect between $40 million and $45 million at 4,310 different theatres.

The film was released regionally this week, but is nowhere to be seen on cinema schedules in those four Gulf territories. However, fellow Middle Eastern markets including Bahrain, Dubai, Lebanon and Egypt have agreed to show the film in its entirety.