Poland is the latest country to completely erase the sexuality of the lesbian character in Onward
The pinnacle of LGBTQ+ representation: Officer Spector in Onward. (Disney/Pixar)
A lesbian character in Pixar film Onward has had her sexuality erased in the film’s Poland release.
The fantasy film introduces a cyclops cop named Specter, voiced by Lena Waithe, who references a same-sex relationship when she complains that “my girlfriend’s daughter got me pulling my hair out”.
The quick moment is only a tiny part of the film, but it has been enough to get the film banned in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia – while other countries including Russia have attempted to erase the moment entirely by deliberately mistranslating the gender of the character’s partner.
Polish Onward release quietly erased character’s identity.
Poland has followed in Russia’s footsteps with the latter tactic, replacing the phrase “girlfriend’s daughter” with “stepdaughter” in its release.
The change was not lost on people in Poland, many of whom complained about the change after seeing the film, as noted by Onet.pl.
One Facebook user lamented: “In Poland, as in Russia, the distributor simply cut this issue and replaced it with another, that the cyclops has problems with the stepdaughter.”
Another Instagram user wrote: “All over the world, this cute purple cyclops says she has problems with her girlfriend’s daughter, but here she says that she has problems with her stepdaughter. The meaning is completely different.
“I want a faithful translation and for Poland to be treated as a normal, open country – not like a place where you have to hide lesbians. Because you don’t have to. Lesbians, after all, have children and sometimes have trouble with them. Like all parents.”
Homophobia is on the rise in Poland.
Anti-LGBT nationalist rhetoric is on the rise in Poland.
Nearly 100 Polish municipal or local governments have now proclaimed themselves zones “free from LGBTI ideology” – covering nearly a third of the country.
The red area shows the municipalities in Poland that have signed the ‘LGBT-free’ pledge. (Atlas of Hate)
The European Parliament passed a resolution that strongly condemned the concept of LGBT-free zones in December.
MEPs described the measures as part of “a broader context of attacks against the LGBTI community in Poland, which include growing hate speech by public and elected officials and public media, as well as attacks and bans on Pride marches and actions such as Rainbow Friday”.
