In a column headlined "The Children Are In Grave Danger" in the Jordanian state daily Al-Rai, Sarah Taleb Al-Souhail, a Jordanian writer of Iraqi origin, called to protect children from the pro-LGBT+ agenda which she said is embedded these days in movies and games. Al-Souhail accused Disney and Netflix of deliberately spreading this content in the Arab world in order to inure children to the concept of homosexuality, which may eventually cause them to become transgender. This, she said, is a "global catastrophe," and the world countries must cooperate in flighting it, so as to keep children from "falling into the trap of this unnatural perversion."[1]
Sarah Taleb Al-Souhail (Image: Sarahalsouhail2000.blogspot.com)
The following are translated excerpts from her column:[2]
"A child is by definition a pure, blank slate, a gem that must be protected from filth and from harm and kept from being broken or corrupted. Sadly, since [the beginning] of the third millennium, children have been exposed to dangers that eliminate their natural inclinations and their humanity by means of systematic campaigns, whether through computer games that encourage violence and suicide, or by spreading drugs in schools, or by recruiting children to gangs, militias or terror [organizations] – or, as has been happening lately, by means of campaigns that seek to persuade children to deviate from nature.
"The content of these last campaigns has started to emerge. Every time one watches a program, series or new show on the media or social media [platforms], one encounters some kind of [message] that promotes this phenomenon among people. I have noticed that several media figures on the Arabic satellite channels, both men and women, address this issue in every episode of their shows, as though someone is paying them to promote it, and this [phenomenon] has thus become overt.
"The threat has reached children in their homes – through games, stories and cartoons, [and even] though the amusement parks we used to love, such as Disney World. They have actually [formulated] a systematic campaign to spread homosexuality in the world, including in the Arab region – even though this region is stricter than any other in following the precepts of the monotheistic faiths, all of which ban this unnatural perversion, not only from a religious perspective but also from a cultural and social one.
"Under humanistic slogans of freedom… in 2008 some international companies launched a campaign to promote [homosexuality] in the Arab homeland, among them Netflix and Disney, which attempt to promote it through their films and children's games.
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"American media host Megyn Kelly has already warned about this perversion and accused Disney of teaching kids homosexuality when she discussed the gay characters in the children's movie Lightyear. According to the AP news agency, 14 Arab countries banned the movie because it contained forbidden scenes, and this hurt the moviemakers' profits.
"This is not the first time Arab and Muslim countries have banned a Disney movie. The film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was [also] banned for preaching and promoting this perversion, and so was Toy Story 4, which won an Oscar in 2020. The movie Eternals and the West Side Story films [sic.][3] were likewise banned in most Arab countries for including transgender and deviant characters…
"The danger lies in the fact that Disney counts on the idea of inuring children to homosexual scenes, and [in the fact] that some Western institutions allocate vast sums to spreading this [phenomenon]. If in the past we did not understand the harmful implications of this, now we have matured and realized it…
"Doctors and medical experts stress that watching cartoons and [playing] games that promote homosexuality can lead children to change their gender by inuring them to the idea…
On March 29, 2023, Disney corporate President Karey Burke said that the company would from now on support and promote these issues.
"The problem is that Disney is invading us with this idea of homosexuality, while our [own] Arab world is unable to produce films that meet our children's need for entertainment and excitement. [In fact,] Disney corporate President Karey Burke defied the world by announcing the production of new films with gay characters, and Disney soon intends to make 50% of its cartoon characters gay, in order to support this [community].[4]
"This catastrophe, which I regard as a global one, requires global cooperation among all of mankind to prevent the spread of these movies and raise awareness [of the issue] among families and society, so as to monitor the children and immunize them against falling into the trap of this unnatural perversion.
"The most important question in this context is how people can become convinced that children have a right to bring perdition upon themselves. Should children be free to drink gasoline or eat asphalt, for example? Should we regard this as their right? What cognitive capacities do children possess that enable them to make this choice? And if [the promoters of homosexuality] argue that children do have the right to choose, how do we prevent them from smoking or drinking alcohol at young age, for example?!"
[1] On homophobic articles in the Gulf press, see MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Series No. 1638 - Wave Of Homophobic Articles In Gulf Press: Homosexuality Is A Perversion That The West Is Trying To Spread Among Us; We Need A Plan To Eradicate It – June 16, 2022.
[2] Al-Rai (Jordan), May 9, 2023.
[3] Only Steven Spielberg's 2021 film West Side Story, which is a remake of the 1961 film adaptation of the musical, includes a transgender character.
[4] In an internal company Zoom call, Burke called for 50 percent of Dsney's characters and content to be from underrepresented groups, and vowed to increase representation of the LGBTQ community or from racial minorities. See e.g., Gbnews.com, March 30, 2022.
