'Gay Jesus' Movie Sparks Massive Backlash, Petition To Get It Removed

Brazilian Netflix viewers have set up a petition to have a satirical Christmas movie, portraying Jesus as gay, removed from the platform.

Over a million viewers so far have come together to ban “The First Temptation of Christ,” a 46-minute long satirical comedy created by a Brazilian comedy troupe “Porta dos Fundos,” the same group who previously created “The Last Hangover,” a parody of the last supper in which the Apostles have to locate a drunken Jesus who went missing. It’s also intended to parody the popular movie “The Hangover,” which features an almost identical plot, sans Jesus.

In their newest comedy, Jesus makes a return, but now with his friend Orlando, to a surprise birthday party for Jesus at Mary and Joseph’s house, according to NY Daily News. The film features a biblical setting, but with some modern Hallmark Christmas film tropes, as well as electronic keyboards playing modern Christmas songs.

São Paulo Marco Feliciano, a pastor, congressman, and anti-LGBTQ speaker, is at the forefront of this crusade to take this movie off the streaming platform. On Twitter, he wrote: “Christians and non-Christians have asked me to take action against the irresponsible members of Porta do Fundo. It’s time we took a collective action — churches and all good people — to put an end to this.”

The petition has accumulated over a million signers at press time with certainly more to come. The petition states that the film is “seriously offending Christians,” and “blasphemous.” They also mention how “intolerant” it is towards religion, in general.

The controversy doesn’t end there, though, as members of the LGBTQ community have also expressed their distaste for the film, with a Decider review by John Serba citing its “gay stereotypes” as problematic.

“Careless is the depiction of Orlando, who’s a bundle of swishy stereotypes — and it’s especially troublesome come the third act, when the character’s true nature is revealed,” Serba states.

The consensus, for both Christians and LGBTQ+ communities, is “skip it,” according to the review. No word yet on whether the film will be removed or not.