Moviegoers had to wait until March to see the movie, which tells the story of Queen and particularly Freddie’s coming to terms with his own identity. But as fans watched, they couldn’t believe their eyes when any reference to him being gay was deleted. According to Japan Times, Chinese LGBT rights activist Peng Yanzi had watched the movie in the UK first.
Having loved it so much, he went on to watch it again on its first release in China.
He said: “The cut scenes really affect the movie.
“The film talks about how Mercury became himself, and his sexuality is an important part of becoming who he was.”
Another fuming fan was Hua Zile, chief editor of an LGBT-themed account, who said: “It’s a pity.
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“This kind of deletion weakens his gay identity.
“It’s a bit disrespectful to his real experience and makes the character superficial.”
Local reports suggest that in China same-sex relationships are absent from mainstream media and still considered a taboo.
Bohemian Rhapsody has been a monster success, with multiple award wins and records broken.
This week, the film was finally knocked off the top of the UK film chart.
The movie was dethroned by the new Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
The film’s star Rami Malek was crowned best actor for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury, while the rest of the film area critical acclaim.
Earlier this month the Freddie Mercury biopic broke The Greatest Showman’s home release record.
The film sold almost half a million discs in its first week of physical release and over 388,000 digital sales in its first four weeks in the chart.