Censors on the U.S. Motion Picture Association of America have given an award-winning British LGBT title from Cannes film festival a very restrictive rating, causing fans of the movie to call the board homophobic.

The drama "Pride" has been given an R rating by the MPAA, meaning no one under the age of 17 is legally allowed to view the film without parent or guardian permission.

"Pride" tells the story of gay and lesbian activists who join forces with a Welsh mining community during the strike of 1984. This rating limits the size of the film's potential audience, and therefore its potential earnings.

The ruling by the MPAA sparked outcry from fans of the Matther Warchus film.

"It is outrageous, knee-jerk homophobia," LGBT activist Peter Tatchell said to the Guardian. "There's no significant sex or violence in 'Pride' to justify strong ratings. The American classification board seems to automatically view any film with even the mildest gay content as unfit for people under 17."

This is not the first time the MPAA's film ratings have caused controversy. In August, a film titled "Love Is Strange," about two older gay men that has no sex, nudity or violence, was labeled with the same R rating.

"Pride" stars Imelda Staunton and Bill Nighy and won the Queer Palm award at this year's Cannes film festival. It was released in UK cinemas in early September and opened in a limited release to US theaters last week.

The British Board of Film Classification deemed "Pride" to have a 15 rating. They cited "occasional strong language," along with two brief scenes of explicit imagery in their decision. The two scenes involve a group of women discovering gay porn magazines and another scene inside a gay club where men wear bondage-style clothing.

The MPAA has not given any public comment for its motivations behind the rating.