Lightyear may be banned in 14 countries due to its inclusion of a same-sex kiss, but Chris Evans isn’t bothered. “The real truth is those people are idiots,” he told Reuters Television. “There’s always going to be people who are afraid and unaware and trying to hold on to what was before. But those people die off like dinosaurs.” Unfortunately, as the documentary Jurassic World: Dominion shows, people looooove to bring dinosaurs back from the dead. The scene provoking homophobic ire is one in which Space Ranger Alisha Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba) is seen kissing her wife. The kiss had been cut from the film at one point, and was alluded to in the open letter Pixar workers wrote after Bob Chapek’s response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. “We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were,” it read. “Even if creating LGBTQIA+ content was the answer to fixing the discriminatory legislation in the world, we are being barred from creating it.” Pixar responded by reinserting the smooch.
Evans is a progressivist at heart, assuming that the society slowly marches toward progress and justice for all. “I think the goal is to pay them no mind, march forward, and embrace the growth that makes us human,” he said. “Every time there’s been social advancement as we wake up, the American story, the human story is one of constant social awakening and growth and that’s what makes us good.” Nobody tell Chris Evans about how 2022 is on track to see the most anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation filed across the country. It would only bum him out.
