A24's latest horror hit, Talk to Me, has been banned in Kuwait over the sexuality of one of the film's stars, Zoe Terakes. The actor has responded.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the initial news of Talk to Me's ban in Kuwait. Its ban has nothing to with the film or its ocntent. Rather, it's due to its star, Terakes, who identifies as nonbinary and trans masculine. Kuwait has a reputation for banning films with any LGBTQ scenes or references. This is a different case.

In a lengthy social media post, Terakes responded to the ban. “I've been wondering how to respond to this. Whether it deserves the dignity of a response. This isn't the first film Kuwait has banned. If there are queer or trans themes or scenes in your film, it's probably not gonna make it to the Gulf. Which is devastating and terrifying in its own right,” Terakes said. “But our film doesn't have queer themes. Our film doesn't actually ever mention my transness, or my queerness. I am a trans actor who happened to get the role. I'm not a theme. I'm a person. Kuwait has banned this film due to my identity alone.”

They continued, “This is a new precedent. It is targeted and dehumanising and means to harm us. As much as it is very sad to be on the receiving end of this, what is even more heartbreaking is what this precedent means for the queer and trans people of Kuwait.”

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Later on, Terakes said, “Representation is hope. Representation is a light at the end of the tunnel, a reason to keep going, something to hold onto in the dark, a voice that whispers things can be better than they are. Eliminating trans actors on screens will not eliminate trans people (as much as the government of Kuwait wishes it could) but it will eliminate a lot of hope. And hope is such a large part of how we live as marginalised people. It's how we learn to move through the hatred and the mistreatment and the violence.”

In Talk to Me, Zoe Terakes plays a pivotal part and could be subject of a prequel should Danny and Michael Philippou (aka RackaRacka) ever want to do one. Terakes will also be in an upcoming MCU project, Ironheart.

Talk to Me is in theaters now.