Muslim group to launch Shariah only news channel in response to Beauty and the Beast
A Muslim group in Malaysia is launching its own news channel in reaction to Beauty and the Beast’s ‘gay moment’.
The activists have claimed that the film is part of a process to normalise LGBT people – which they are horrified by.
It was confirmed this week that Beauty and the Beast will be shown in full in Malaysia, overriding censors’ attempts to cut the film’s gay moment.
“This is a normalisation process of something that is abnormal so society will be accustomed to a disease, until they feel that it is not a disease but an identity that must be accepted by society and with pride by its practitioners,” Multiracial Reverted Muslims founder Firdaus Wong Wai Hung said on his Facebook page.
He also claimed that being gay is wrong, but polygamy should be embraced by society.
“Isn’t it weird that LGBT, which the majority of the world’s religions do not agree with, but is promoted such so society will accept it, but polygamy that is accepted by the majority of world’s religions is opposed completely as if it is a crime?”
It’s now reported by Today that the group are launching a “100 per cent Shariah-compliant content” news channel – in reaction to Beauty and the Beast being allowed to air in full.
Another man from the group, Dr Nur Fatiha Kamarzaman, claimed that the film’s “gay moments” are targeted at children and “systematically plotted to blunt norms and subconscious minds”.
“How can we stop paedophiles, assaults and thousands of perverts if at the same time we allow these foreign movies groom our future generation?” he asked.
Last week, Disney barred the film from being shown by any cinema in Malaysia after it found out censors had removed the moment where Gaston’s sidekick LeFou dances with a man.
The live-action remake is the first major Disney film to feature an unambiguously gay character, and smashed box office records this weekend despite an attempted evangelical boycott.
Disney released a statement reporting that it had triumphed in its stand-off with the censors.
“We are pleased to announce that Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ has now been approved to be released in Malaysia on March 30th with no cuts, with a PG 13 rating,” the statement read.
Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid, head of Malaysia’s Film Censorship Board, told AFP last week that his organisation was trying to censor the film because “The way he (Le Fou) dances is…gay and the dialogue and the lyrics of the song are too.
“In the same scene he also lifts up his shirt and shows a love bite on his tummy.”
PinkNews has debunked this false claim – there is no love bite in the film, as one would expect from a Disney creation.
Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia, with those found guilty of homosexual offences facing up to 20 years in prison.
All gay characters shown in films in Malaysia must die or repent, often ‘becoming straight’ by the end of the film.
As recently as 2015, current Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak compared the LGBT community to Islamic State, saying both were enemies of Islam.
Emma Watson, who plays Belle in the film, said the “subtle” portrayal of Le Fou was “fun”, and added extra dimensions to the character.
“It’s always like, does he idolise Gaston? Is he in love with Gaston? What’s the relationship there? And I think it’s incredibly subtle, to be perfectly honest.”
