West Side Story banned in 6 countries

Stephen Spielberg’s adaptation of the classical musical West Side Story has been banned in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar. 

In Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the Disney film was not granted a release certificate, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Disney refused to cut the film to comply with censorship requests.  

Although the official reason for the ban is still unknown, the movie has allegedly been banned because of Anybodys, a transgender character in the movie.

Middle Eastern countries have strict censorship mandates regarding sexuality. Homosexuality is still illegal in most of the region. In Saudi Arabia and Qatar, it can be punishable by death.   

Many films that have LGBTQ references have been censored in the Middle East. Most recently, Disney’s latest Marvel release, Eternals, was banned due to one of the main characters being in a same-sex relationship. Disney refused to cut a kissing scene between the couple. However, the company, later on, agreed to the cut scenes requested by censors.

West Side Story will premiere on Friday, 60 years after the original movie came out. The movie was well received by critics and received 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.