Onward arrives in theaters on March 6th. The upcoming animated film is the latest from Disney Pixar and will feature their very first openly LGBTQ+ character. Lena Waithe will serve as the voice of Officer Specter. At one point in the movie, this character will mention having a girlfriend — thereby confirming that she is either a lesbian or bisexual.
While many see this as an absolute win, some countries aren't yet quite as welcoming toward sexual orientations beyond the long-established norm. For instance,
Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker briefly featured a same-sex kiss. However, the minor moment didn't make it into the final cut when the movie came to Chinese theatres.
Similarly, Officer Specter will be censored in Russia. It's said (via
The Moscow Times) that the character won't outright be cut from the movie but instead what she says will be altered. In place of casually mentioning her girlfriend; the Russian release will see Officer Specter mention her "partner" instead of outright confirming her LGBTQ+ status.
Additionally, nothing is said about the character's gender — and her character design is particularly ambiguous in terms of that. It's certainly a shame but at least the censoring isn't as significant as it could have been — Officer Specter hasn't been outright erased from the movie nor does saying "partner" necessarily exclude the potential of said partner being of the same-sex.
Set in a suburban fantasy world, two teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, go on a journey to discover if there is still a little magic left out there in order to spend one last day with their father, who died when they were too young to remember him.
Onward will arrive in theaters on March 6th, 2020.