There are few mainstream media representations of L.G.B.T. people in Singapore, where sex between men is punishable by up to two years in prison and there are no protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Anti-gay sentiment runs high in the conservative nation; 60 percent of Singaporeans surveyed in 2018 opposed gay marriage, according to the Institute of Policy Studies, a think tank.

The scene was already hotly debated among gay rights supporters. Some applauded the kiss as an overdue acknowledgment that gay people exist in the “Star Wars” universe. But others thought it was tokenism, saying a more robust gesture was needed to reinforce the message.

Some fans, seeing a palpable chemistry between two of the main characters, Finn and Poe Dameron, played by John Boyega and Oscar Isaac, hoped their bromance might elevate into romance. The actors have said they would have supported the development.

“Personally, I kind of hoped and wished that maybe that would’ve been taken further in the other films, but I don’t have control,” Mr. Isaac told Variety. “It seemed like a natural progression, but sadly enough it’s a time when people are too afraid, I think, of — I don’t know what.”

J.J. Abrams, the film’s director, had hinted before its release that there would be a moment that would please members of the L.G.B.T.Q. community, telling Variety that “it was important to me that people who go to see this movie feel that they’re being represented in the film.” In a 2017 interview with The Daily Beast, he said it was “insanely narrow-minded and counterintuitive to say that there wouldn’t be a homosexual character in that world.”