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Speaking on a recent episode of his podcast, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz complained about "lesbian toys" in Disney's Toy Story spinoff, Lightyear.
Cruz suggested that the Walt Disney Corporation's recent refusal to remove a scene featuring a same-sex kiss from Lightyear is an indication of its commitment to its own "culture agenda" despite the fact that the film has been banned in 14 countries–and soon possibly China–over the scene.
Cruz's complaints are all the more baseless because the characters who share the same-sex kiss (one of which, Hawthorne, is voiced by Orange is the New Black actress Uzo Aduba) are not, in fact, toys.
You can hear what Cruz said in the video below.
\u201cSen Ted Cruz complains about "lesbian toys" in the Buzz Lightyear movie: "Most toys are, kinda, androgynous. They're usually without genitalia"\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1655469543
Cruz said:
"It’s a wild twist where Hollywood has been willing to grovel to China, to let China censor its movies, to embrace anti-Americanism, to avoid any criticism of China because they want to get access to the Chinese movie market, but when it comes to their culture agenda, apparently now suddenly they’ve discovered, ‘Alright, give up the money because lesbian toys are more important.’”
Cruz went on to add that "last time I checked, most toys are kind of androgynous" and that they are "usually without genitalia." He suggested that if Disney must make films with such content, then it should choose to air it only on Cinemax, a network that Disney does not own.
Disney had initially bowed to pressure over the scene, but chose to restore it following pushback from LGBTQ+ employees of its Pixar division, who said they had "personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were."
Cruz was swiftly criticized for his statements
\u201cI'm going to go see it in the theater because Ted Cruz criticized it! Also, don't you have something more productive to do, you know, other than criticize a cartoon?\u201d— Kimmmy (@Kimmmy) 1655486846
\u201c"Why do toys have to go at it?"\n-Ted Cruz, a real United States Senator.\u201d— Jeff Morin (@Jeff Morin) 1655507933
\u201cDude, Cruz, you need to stop thinking about genitalia. \n\nThough he did give me an idea to scare him with a toy of America Chavez.\u201d— SJWJamesBond Wants Nazis Banned \ufe3d\u2735\ufe3d Agent of GIRL (@SJWJamesBond Wants Nazis Banned \ufe3d\u2735\ufe3d Agent of GIRL) 1655534698
\u201cTed did not know what Lightyear is about.\u201d— ACO (@ACO) 1655548768
\u201cIs it just me or does it seem to imply that Ted is VERY interested in toy genitalia? Just how often does he check?\u201d— Bitch Pudding (@Bitch Pudding) 1655753446
\u201c1) They aren\u2019t toys in the movie. It\u2019s about the guy for which the toy was modeled after.\n\n2) Why is Ted Cruz pondering the genitalia of kids movie characters?\n\n3) Buzz and Woody are great names for sex toys.\u201d— Ol Matty (@Ol Matty) 1655829962
\u201cTed Cruz is obsessed with lesbians and genitalia. \u2014 thing is, after he donated to Boebert he went after Netflix for \u2018pedophilia\u2019 to please Q\u201d— Outspoken\u2122\ufe0f (@Outspoken\u2122\ufe0f) 1655485526
\u201cHow does this dude keep getting elected?\u201d— Avocado Aficionado (@Avocado Aficionado) 1655571581
\u201cTed Cruz doesn't know what "androgynous" means.\nDude is just throwing out word salad for outrage.\nDoes he think "Toy Story" is real and the toys themselves have sexuality to them?\u201d— visoredavenger (@visoredavenger) 1655558210
Cruz has criticized Disney before.
Earlier this year, was mocked after he made the bizarre claim Disney cartoons would soon feature "Mickey and Pluto going at it."
Cruz's comments were made in defense of Florida's controversial "Don't Say Gay" law, which Disney announced it would work to help repeal.
Florida’s Republican-sponsored Parental Rights in Education bill, or H.B. 1557, was recently signed into law by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. The law, colloquially known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, aims to “reinforce the fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children in a specified manner.”
The law wants to prohibit “a school district from encouraging classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a specified manner” and authorizes parents to “bring an action against a school district to obtain a declaratory judgment that a school district procedure or practice violates certain provisions of law.”
Cruz called critics of the law "misguided" and stressed then, as he did now, that people "could always shift to Cinemax" if they want to view content he considers inappropriate for children.