Uproar as UK film Pride has all gay references removed from US DVD cover

PRIDE was the surprise hit of 2014, screening to high praise in Australia and the UK — but the Americans have deleted a very important word from the DVD cover.

CRITICALLY acclaimed British film Pride is at the centre of a furore following its release on DVD in the US, with allegations the film’s distributors are trying to hide the movie’s gay content from viewers.

The award-winning film, starring veteran actors Imelda Staunton and Bill Nighy, tells the true story of an unlikely union between a group of London gay and lesbian activists and the residents of a Welsh village during the height of the UK miner’s strike in the early ‘80s.

In Pride, a group of London gay activists form an unlikely union with residents of a Welsh mining village.

Depictions of gay and lesbian life, love and politics are on show throughout the film, as the residents of the conservative Welsh village adjust to welcoming their colourful new supporters in the strike.

However, with the film set for release on DVD in the US, fans have been shocked to find that all references to homosexuality in this unapologetically gay film have been omitted from the DVD packaging.

The synopsis on the back cover of the DVD describes the gay and lesbian protest organisation as a “group of London-based activists,” and also features a digitally altered version of a widely-circulated publicity still from the film. A banner featured in the original image, saying ‘LESBIANS & GAYS SUPPORT THE MINERS,” has been scrubbed from the picture on the DVD cover.

The DVD cover, with all gay references removed.

The original publicity picture used for the DVD cover — before the banner ‘LESBIANS & GAYS SUPPORT THE MINERS” was digitally removed.

The film was one of the homegrown hits of last year in the UK, but has faced a battle to be seen in the US. Screened in cinemas on limited release in America back in September, the film was given an R-rating, a much tougher restriction than the M-rating it received in the UK and Australia.

Many wondered whether the R-rating was a reaction to the film’s gay content — which amounts to a couple of same-sex kisses and a brief, comedic scene in which Imelda Staunton’s character discovers a gay porn magazine under a bed.

Following this latest outcry from fans of the film, director Matthew Warchus issued a statement defending the decision to remove gay references from the DVD cover.

“Pride is a film which plays incredibly well to a global mainstream audience of any political or sexual persuasion. It’s a film about two groups of people forming an unlikely alliance and fighting each others’ corners rather than just their own. It is probably one of the most political films ever to hit the mainstream and it is certainly one of the most loved films of the year (even by people who hate politics). I don’t consider it a ‘Gay Film’ or a ‘Straight Film’. I’m not interested in those labels. It is an honest film about compassion, tolerance, and courage,” Warchus wrote, admitting that marketing the film had proved an “interesting challenge.”

Imelda Staunton (centre) stars in the film, which has been compared to British classics like The Full Monty and Billy Elliott.

“Since the day I first read the script I have felt passionately that this film, of all films, deserves to find a fully diverse audience, from all walks of life. Indeed its’ very meaning and message is diminished the more ‘niche’ it becomes. I look forward to living in a world where these kinds of marketing negotiations are neither valid nor necessary — but we’re not there yet. In a sense, that’s why I made the film.

“For these reasons I don’t automatically condemn any attempt to prevent the movie being misunderstood as an exclusively “Gay Film”. I certainly don’t regard such attempts as homophobic.”

Originally published as Uproar as UK film Pride has all gay references removed from US DVD cover