Disney Channel Show Banned From Kenya Following Gay Storyline

Donyae Lewis READ TIME: 1 MIN.

There's no question that Disney Channel's original series "Andi Mack" saw their ratings soar with their introduction of a gay character during the show's second season premiere. But that didn't stop Kenya from banning the show.

The show featured the network's first historical coming out story seen with character Cyrus Goodman and immediately caught audiences' eyes worldwide. It didn't sit well with Kenya Film Classification Board's Chief Executive Ezekiel Mutua, who announced on Monday the country will be banning the Disney show from their network.

"Homosexuality goes against the collective and values by the people of Kenya. Any attempt to introduce gay programming in Kenya will be met with the full force of the law," said Mutua.

The chief executive went on to express his discontentment with children programming featuring gay characters on his Twitter account.

"Children must be given correct information tht family is a union btwn people of opposite gender," he tweeted.

All the backlash the show has received has been matched with praise. The series grew by 50 percent in total viewers from their series premiere back in April (2.1 million vs. 1.4 million) and received accolades for their gay storyline from groups including GLAAD and The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

According to Deadline, the series ranked as the number one television telecast in the timeslot across youth demographics (Kids aged six to 11 and kids six to 14) and was the number one cable television telecast in total viewers.


by Donyae Lewis

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