Russian officials are coming under pressure to check if Disney's new film Beauty and the Beast breaches the country's law against "gay propaganda".

 

俄罗斯官员将被要求审查迪士尼新电影《美女与野兽》是否触犯了该国禁止“同性恋宣传”的法律。

 

Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky said action would be taken after the checks while an MP described the film as "shameless propaganda of sin".

 

The live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast features Disney's first ever gay character and love scene.

 

A Russian law prohibits the spreading of "gay propaganda" among minors.

 

The 2013 legislation, which has angered human rights activists and the international gay community, describes homosexuality as "non-traditional sexual relations".

 

Homosexuality was decriminalised in Russia in 1993 and the country officially removed it from a list of psychiatric disorders in 1999.

 

However, homophobic attacks have been documented in recent years.

 

Director Bill Condon has spoken of an "exclusively gay moment" in Beauty and the Beast.

 

It involves LeFou, who is a sidekick of the film's main antagonist Gaston.

 

LeFou, played by US actor Josh Gad, tries to come to terms with feelings for Gaston that swing between lust and admiration, as a side-plot to the main story.