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This Christian Country Just Banned "Rocketman" From Screening

Gay sex is still punishable by imprisonment under this nation's harsh sodomy laws.

Yet another country is attempting to censor Rocketman for putting the life of a gay music legend front-and-center.

The government in Samoa, an island nation in the South Pacific, has banned the acclaimed Elton John biopic from screening nationwide because it depicts gay characters, reports the Associated Press.

Paramount Pictures

In a statement to the Samoa Observer, Leiataua Niuapu Faaui, the country's principal censor, conceded that Rocketman tells "a good story, in that it’s about an individual trying to move on in life." However, Faaui maintained that its protagonist's real-life struggles as an openly gay musician wouldn't sit well with conservative, traditional Christians across the nation.

A significant majority of Samoans—about 97%, according to AP—identify as Christian, and gay sex is still punishable by imprisonment under the country's harsh sodomy laws.

This isn't the first time the Samoan government has taken action against a queer-inclusive film: As AP notes, the country also banned the 2008 Harvey Milk biopic Milk from screening. Rocketman also fell prey to censorship in Russia, where about five minutes of the film were cut because those scenes contained queer content.

However, the biopic, which stars British actor Taron Egerton as Elton John, has already earned some $101 million internationally since its opening in theaters 10 days ago.

Egerton also used his platform to speak out against anti-gay censorship in Russia any beyond, posting a heartfelt note to his Instagram profile.

Below, watch Egerton and his co-star Richard Madden chat with Logo about how Rocketman—and its gay sex scenes—are making Hollywood history.

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