Orthodox Christian group calls for X-rated LGBTQ+ show to be banned

A steamy same-sex sports-romance has been slammed by members of an Orthodox Christian church this week, who've called for the series to be pulled from streaming services.

If you've managed to avoid the fanfare surrounding Heated Rivalry, you must live under a rock - it's the Canadian limited series that you only have to open social media to see discussions about.

Based on Rachel Reid's best-selling book Game Changes, the show tells the tale of rival men's professional hockey players Shane Hollander, a Canadian athlete for the Montreal Metros, and Ilya Rozanov, his Russian opponent for the Boston Raiders.

Despite having endured a bitter public feud that is ceaselessly splashed across sporting headlines, it turns out that Shane and Ilya have been keeping an X-rated secret - they've been enjoying a passionate love affair behind their coaches' backs for some time.

It's the classic 'enemies-to-lovers' trope that sends Gen Z book lovers wild time and time again, so it's no surprise that fans of the passionate piece were thrilled to hear it was being adapted for television screens.

One group not so happy with the show's release were the members of Sorok Sorokov, a Russian Orthodox Christian organisation that preaches traditional values when it comes to sex and relationships.

So much so that in an announcement made last week, it was revealed that the body had called upon both the Prosecutor General’s Office and Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor to have the series pulled from local streaming services.

In 2023, Russia's Supreme Court called the 'international LGBT movement' an 'extremist organization', with the country having outlawed displays of homosexuality.

The State Duma (Russia's lower house of parliament) also banned 'LGBT propaganda'.

The series follows the classic 'enemies-to-lovers' trope (Accent Aigu Entertainment)

Sorok Sorokov's chairman, Georgy Soldatov, told Abzats Media on Friday (9 January): "Heated Rivalry is a Canadian series where the main characters openly propagate pederasty.

"It’s hard to imagine how it was released on Russian online platforms."

Soldatov went on to hit out: "The series is full of sodomite sex scenes. Russia already has a mortality rate higher than its birth rate, and yet we allow our youth to be shown propaganda of unnatural debauchery."

Not only is he demanding its removal from Russian TV services, but he's asking both Roskomnadzor and the Prosecutor General’s Office to charge any platform that disobeys the ruling.

Unsurprisingly, this hasn't gone down well with fans of the show, one of whom took to X to hit out: "And this is exactly why a queer show being so successful and mainstream is important!

The show features a number of steamy moments (Accent Aigu Entertainment)

"Such ignorance smh."

Another teased: "They just couldn’t handle how hot the sex scenes were."

"Maybe not attack your LGBTQ+ community in Russia?" a third suggested. "That might decrease mortality rates."

A fourth simply questioned: "How does Russia's high mortality rate have to do with HEATED RIVALRY."