Brazilian court orders Netflix to stop showing gay Jesus movie
A Brazilian judge ordered the streaming entertainment service Netflix to stop showing a controversial movie depicting Jesus as a gay man, according to court documents made public on Wednesday.
In the ruling against Netflix, the state court judge said: “The right to freedom of expression … is not absolute.”
“The First Temptation of Christ,” created by Brazilian YouTube comedy group Porta dos Fundos, portrays Jesus bringing home a presumed boyfriend to meet his family, Reuters reports.
The show, which started playing on Netflix last month as a Christmas special, has caused an uproar among Brazil’s conservative Christians.
About two million people have petitioned Netflix to remove the show from its online streaming service.
Asked for a response, Netflix said it had no comment on the ruling, which the judge issued on Tuesday.
The injunction ordering Netflix to take the show off its online platform was issued by judge Benedicto Abicair after a religious organization Associaçao Centro Dom Bosco de Fe e Cultura filed a lawsuit against the show’s creators Porta dos Fundos.
The injunction had been denied by a lower court but Abicair, who handles appeals, wrote that the ruling was needed to protect against abuses of the freedom of expression.
According to Time, “The First Temptation of Christ” depicts Jesus returning home on his 30th birthday and insinuates he is gay. Religious groups bristled at the depiction. Creators of the film have defended it as legitimate freedom of expression.
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