A Saudi official holds up a rainbow-cloured item. Screenshot courtesy of the Ministery of Commerce.
Rainbow-coloured toys and clothes were removed this week from stores in Saudi Arabia because authorities say they “promote homosexual colours,” state media reported.Commerce ministry officials from Saudi Arabia – where same-sex sexual activity is banned and punishable by death – said that colourful toys and clothes such as pencil cases and skirts contradicted “the Islamic faith and public morals.”
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Footage provided by the ministry of commerce and aired on state TV shows a Saudi official walking through several stores while holding up items emblazoned with rainbow colours.The ministry also tweeted a portion of the clip, saying “Our supervisory teams…seize and confiscate products that contain symbols that contradict normal common sense.”In another state-controlled TV report, a journalist gestures to a rainbow flag before claiming that the colours send a “poisoned message” to children. The disposal of rainbow toys comes at a time when Saudi Arabia has blocked the viewing of international films that reference homosexuality after lifting its 2017 ban on cinemas.The country announced it had asked Disney to cut scenes mentioning homosexuality in the recent Marvel film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness but the film company had refused.