Archie comic book banned in Singapore bookstores for depicting gay marriage

An Archie comic book has been banned in bookstores here by the government because of its depiction of same-sex marriage,

The volume was banned in March after a complaint from a member of the public triggered a content review, said the Media Development Authority (MDA) in a statement.

The ban was brought to light after Mr Sonny Liew, 39, a graphic novelist wrote to bookseller Kinokuniya, to check if objectionable content was being removed from commercial bookstores.

He then received a reply that the comic book had been removed, according to a report in MyPaper. 

Archie: The Married Life Book Three, which is from the Life with Archie series, features the marriage of Archie Andrews' friend Kevin Keller, and his boyfriend Clay Walker.

The MDA said it assessed the book "upon receiving a complaint and found its content to be in breach of guidelines because of its depiction of the same-sex marriage of two characters in the comic."

It also added that a special panel that confers with the MDA on objectionable content "advised that the theme of the comic was not in line with social norms, and is in breach of existing content guidelines.

"We thus informed the local distributor not to import or distribute the comic in retail outlets."

The ban comes amidst a new issue of Life with Archie this week, in which Archie dies trying to save Kevin, a US Senator, from an assassination attempt.

Last week, the National Library Board (NLB) caused an uproar after it chose to destroy three children's books over its depiction of gay families.

According to The Straits Times, NLB is continuing to loan the Archie: The Married Life Book Three series and said they will be reviewing the books in light of MDA's decision.

Read our earlier story on how Archie dies taking a bullet for his gay friend in the latest issue. 

Photo: Amazon

Source: AFP, Straits Times