Fans Are Petitioning Singapore to Lower the Movie Rating for 'Love, Simon'

As Love Simon enters it's third week at the box office, the film is facing some overseas challenges.

Apparently, the gay-themed, teen rom-com got an R21 rating for its Singapore release, meaning no one under the age of 21 is allowed to buy a ticket to see the film. An R21 rating is the highest viewership advisory a film can get in Singapore, and is usually given to films due to inappropriate images and adult content. But as many fans and viewers of the Love, Simon can attest, the movie contains no nudity, sexual situations, or violence. This raises quite a few eyebrows as to the reasoning behind this restriction, which we can assume is because it's a gay-themed film.

Fans have been quick to express their outrage, especially after hearing that Singapore gave Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water a lower, NC16 rating, even though the fantasy, love story features explicit content and sex scenes.

A petition started by activist Thasha Monique Dharmendra is now circulating on the web, calling for Singapore's MDA (Media Development Authority) to change the age restriction from R21 to NC16. The petition has gained some 13,000+ signatures (on a goal of 15,000) at the time of reporting.

You can sign Dharmendra's petition here, and watch the trailer for Love, Simon in the video below.