Owners of a drive-in theater in northeast Alabama said they will not show Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" movie because it features a gay character, AL.com reported.
The Henagar Drive-In Theatre in DeKalb County posted its decision on its Facebook page Thursday night.
"If we cannot take our 11-year-old granddaughter and 8-year-old grandson to see a movie, we have no business watching it," the post read. "If I can't sit through a movie with God or Jesus sitting by me then we have no business showing it."
The theater's Facebook page is no longer accessible. The theater owners of the drive-in, located on Sand Mountain southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee, have not commented about pulling the movie.
Reports first emerged Thursday that the movie, which will be released in the United States on March 17, included a gay character portrayed by actor Josh Gad.
The movie's director, Bill Condon, described a scene as a "nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie" in an interview published Thursday by "Attitude" — the United Kingdom's best-selling gay magazine.
Condon said that Gad’s portrayal of LeFou is a character that struggles with his sexuality.
"LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston," Gaston told Yahoo. "He's confused about what he wants. It's somebody who's just realizing that he has these feelings. And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And that's what has its payoff at the end, which I don't want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie."
AL.com posted the drive-in’s full Facebook post:
“As of December 16th the Henagar Drive-In is under new ownership. Movies scheduled prior to that date and four weeks after this date were not scheduled by the new owners. That being said...It is with great sorrow that I have to tell our customers that we will not be showing Beauty and the Beast at the Henagar Drive-In when it comes out. When companies continually force their views on us we need to take a stand. We all make choices and I am making mine. For those that do not know Beauty and the Beast is "premiering" their first homosexual character. The producer also says at the end of the movie "there will be a surprise for same-sex couples". If we can not take our 11-year-old granddaughter and 8-year-old grandson to see a movie we have no business watching it. If I can't sit through a movie with God or Jesus sitting by me then we have no business showing it. I know there will be some that do not agree with this decision. That's fine. We are first and foremost Christians. We will not compromise on what the Bible teaches. We will continue to show family oriented films so you can feel free to come watch wholesome movies without worrying about sex, nudity, homosexuality and foul language. Thank you for your support!”
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