Chris Evans Applauds Disney For Restoring Same-Sex Kiss In ‘Lightyear’: It Should Be The ‘Norm’

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Earlier this year, Disney and Pixar made a decision to remove a same-sex kiss from their upcoming movie about Buzz Lightyear. However, after a lot of backlash from employees about Disney’s censorship of “overtly gay affection”, the house that Mickey Mouse built decided to put the kiss back into the movie, titled Lightyear — a kiss between Commander Alisha Hawthorne and her wife.

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The scene has gotten the movie banned in a few countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, but Chris Evans, who plays the original Buzz Lightyear in the movie (not to be confused with the toy Tim Allen played in the first four Toy Story movies), said he’s happy the same-sex kiss is back in the film.

“I mean, it’s great. As great as it is…it’s nice, and it’s wonderful, it makes me happy. It’s tough to not be a little frustrated that it even has to be a topic of discussion,” Chris, 41, told Variety in a new interview, while promoting the film. He added that he hopes in the future, something like a same-sex kiss won’t need to be seen as “news”.

“The goal is that we can get to a point where it is the norm, and that this doesn’t have to be some uncharted waters, that eventually this is just the way it is,” Chris said. “That representation across the board is how we make films.”

He further noted that it’s an honor “to be a part of something that is taking those steps,” but he believes, “the goal is to look back on this time and just be shocked that it took us this long to get there.”

Lightyear is set to hit theaters on June 17.