'Lightyear' star Chris Evans responds to critics of the Pixar movie's gay kiss scene: 'Those people are idiots'

• Chris Evans responded to people who have expressed anger over "Lightyear" having a same-sex couple.
• "The real truth is those people are idiots," he told Reuters.

Chris Evans didn't hold back when asked about criticism over a same-sex kiss in Pixar's newest movie, "Lightyear."

"The real truth is those people are idiots," Evans told Reuters Television of people who have condemned the kiss.

"Every time there's been social advancement as we wake up, the American story, the human story is one of constant social awakening and growth and that's what makes us good," he continued.

The movie is the origin story of the "Toy Story" character Buzz Lightyear. Evans voices the "real" space ranger as we watch him on an epic adventure. In the movie, there's a scene that features Lightyear's fellow space ranger, Alisha (voiced by Uzo Aduba), coming home from a mission and kissing her significant other, who is also a woman.

The kiss has resulted in the movie being banned from playing in the United Arab Emirates.

"There's always going to be people who are afraid and unaware and trying to hold on to what was before," Evans told Reuters. "But those people die off like dinosaurs. I think the goal is to pay them no mind, march forward and embrace the growth that makes us human."

In early March, Disney employees accused executives of cutting "nearly every moment of overtly gay affection" from Pixar films.

The statement, obtained by Variety, was part of a larger backlash from Disney employees in response to the company's handling of Florida's "Parental Rights in Education" bill, which has been referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" bill by opponents.

After backlash, Variety reported that "Lightyear" restored the kiss.

"Lightyear" is the first Pixar movie to get a theatrical release in theaters since the pandemic.