Homosexuals in Star Wars

Well spoken. Where I live, religion is a much smaller topic than in other parts of the United States, so I never really heard of religious-minded people raising concern over what the movies depicted. Great stuff and input @WhySoSidious!

 

I’m all for homosexuals being featured in Star Wars, for the exact same reason I’m ecstatic that Poe is Latino, Finn is black, and Rey is a “strong-female-character”. It is incredibly important for children of all different backgrounds to have heroes (and heroines) to look up to and identify with. I speak from experience when I tell you how empowering it is to see someone “just like you” accounted for on television, on the movie screen, and in novels and comic books.

In the case of Nora Wexley’s sister (and her wife), the author did nothing but detail the fact that both people in the romantic relationship were female. End of story. As such, I do not agree with earlier posts proclaiming that this character reveal is tantamount to “politicizing” the Star Wars universe. The author did nothing more than point out the fact that homosexual people exist. They have relationships. They drink “space tea” and can sometimes be crappy aunts who allow a 15-year-old boy to live by himself.

Had the author pointed out the sexual orientation of the characters, and then gone on to say something like, “Since the fall of the Empire, space-lesbians can now adopt babies and have equal representation under the law” or something of that sort, I’d totally agree with the argument that the author was politicizing the story. But that didn’t happen.

It is important to understand that calling attention to the fact that something exists (like sexual identity, sexual orientation, race, gender, or religious affiliation) is not the same as advocating it.

 

Ok, sorry for picking this thread back up again. I do not want to discuss the "whys" and "ifs", as it has already been addressed far more eloquently and with greater knowledge than anything I could add about representation in the media. Being a 31 year old white atheist hetero male, most of the entertainment industry has that demographic covered...

I want to address something that I thought odd about the "how", while I was reading these books, and I would like your opinion on it.

As @ZebroGodilla said, they introduced Moff Delian Mors and Sinjir Rath Velus as an Ex-Imperial Loyalty Officer.
Well, the Empire is supposed to imitate the nazi/fascist regimes, correct? I thought that those type of regimes would not be very tolerant towards homosexuality, and that it would be another thing the Empire would try to repress.
Should they have said something along those lines? That the Empire didn't approve or even if there was any type of persecution? Or do you think that the Empire would just not care about it?

On the other hand, similar to what @TK421 said about the adoption and equal representation issues, presenting it like that could be seen as preaching something like "only the good guys are tolerant" and that would be taken as politicizing, maybe?

What are your thoughts on this? Did this cross anyone else's mind?

 

Great point, I hadn't considered the religion angle of it (even though it was brought up during the course of this thread...). I was just thinking of the earth-bound inspiration for the Empire.

Ahh ok, I did not know that.

 

It crossed my mind a bit. Moreso that after 40 years of the movies and the EU making DIRECT comparisons to bigoted ideology by insisting that the reason why we never saw females or POC in the Empire was because they were held down due to prejudice, suddenly we have a bunch of them and it doesn't seem to be much of an issue. The relevance of, say, Thrawn or Daala would be much less if they didn't have the strong "Had to overcome institutional prejudice" angle. And it is jarring that they are still trying to work that angle with Moff Mors, et al, when every new work introduces more female and non-white Imperials. They have to pick something and stick with it.

That said, even though the Empire has parallels to Earth dictatorships and Fascist regimes, it is still in a GFFA, so it doesn't have to be completely parallel. There are plenty of non-humans who can serve the role of victims of prejudice.

Of all those things, homosexuality actually bothers me the LEAST, because in real-world history it has always been something that people openly talk about exterminating while hypocritically practicing it on the side. There were plenty of closeted gay Nazis (and anyone familiar with Germany and specifically Berlin leading up to the war knows that there was plenty of homosexual, bisexual, and transsexual behavior being indulged in.) And even today (and I am not going to get into politics or name names here, but...) there are stories on a practically monthly basis of anti-gay politicians with wives being caught soliciting gay people and gay sex -- and it's routinely on the side of the political spectrum that has made anti-gay politics part of its platform. So there's nothing "new" about that in either our universe of the SW universe.

 

I think Aftermath did a fantastic job regarding gay characters. The lesbian aunts were simply noted as two married women. Then the kicker...

Spoiler

When the male imperial reveals he's gay it's hilarious. The bounty hunter just assumes he's into women and wants to be with her. I assumed the same thing. When he said he was gay I laughed for quite a while. A perfectly subtle moment that wasn't addressed after that. The bounty hunter merely said "Meh okay" and went on her way.

I like women more than I like men, even though I am married to a wonderful man. As a kid I always hoped for there to be lesbian figures for me to look up to and I'm glad they're in Star Wars canon, even if they're side characters. It really seems that in the GFFA it's no big deal and that's a wonderful trait for my own immersion.

 

So long SW doesn't make homosexuality the driving force of the story, I'm good.

 

Star Wars has never been a story about sexuality. Not sure what you are saying here. No sexuality in Star Wars?

 

Honestly this is just my opinion, but I don't see the reason blatantly revealing a characters sexual orientation in any book. It shouldn't really be all that necessary. For example, you have Han and Leia, they are obviously straight but it's not forced in a way where it highlights how straight they are. It doesn't have to do anything with Han like women or Leia liking men. Instead they appeal to each other and are interested in each other. Also, Luke is pretty much celibate and uninterested in anybody by episode 6 except for redeeming his father.

Consequently I just feel there shouldn't be a revelation in what sex a character likes. It's choppy and forced, and is unnecessary. Instead have a character only ever show his interests when he or she is truly interested in another character and it helps the story. And it should only be about that character, not a group! otherwise it's just forced American culture political correctness into a fictional galaxy.

Should there be gay characters in Star Wars? sure, there are in real life, so it shouldn't be ignored. But should they be introduced as being gay? No, not at all. There's so much more to a person than what physicalities they are interested in. It's actually pretty superficial if you ask me. Leave it open for the reader, like every other action a character does.

 

Homosexuality exists in nature. It exists in ours as much as it would/does exist in the Star Wars universe. There are human beings in the Star Wars universe, so logic would tell us that our species and all of its multitudinous facets would also exist. A human character who happens to be gay should be seen as a simple 'character' trait which adds dimension to him/her just as much as their cultural background, gender or skin colour would. It doesn't mean it has anything to do with sex. Would we be disgusted at two differing Star Wars species cohabitating in a loving relationship and let our own cultural mores hinder our acceptance of them? Sure, some would, but that's exactly what makes great storylines. I personally like being shaken up a bit and made to contemplate situations and scenarios totally outside my sphere of reference. I guess that's why I love science fiction and fantasy so much.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 19, 2015, Original Post Date: Dec 19, 2015 ---

I would have thought the Nazi's repressed homosexuals because of our own religious and cultural intolerances based here on Earth. Who is to say that a more advanced society has far past acceptance that homosexuality is a natural phenomenon and not the deviant sexuality practice we consider it.

 

I always say "i'm anti the Anti".

It's really not up to me nor anybody else to judge or comdemn anyones behavior or beliefs if it's their own, but in the same way no ones has the right to forbid others thoughts or actions just don't make me or anyone else accept what we don't like.

Respect the diference, don't be a hater nor a imposer.

 

I honestly think Finn and Poe are gonna be a thing.

 

You might not be the only one.

 

calling all my fellow gays..... who do you think is gay in star wars.......

 

obviously the most infamous gay person in star wars is luke.............from his beautiful wedding to han at the end of episode iv, to his beautiful and tender smiles directed at the love of his life it's undeniable.

personally, i'm holding out on rey getting a Wonderful Gf in the next film. preferable one that Does not mention sand

 

i agree w this.......... & rey is a lesbian and is finally a quality example of #futch representation in media.........

 

also if you've read the princess leia marvel comics.... leia and evaan are so in love......

 

i have read those omg...... truly they are in love its beautiful actually. theres barely any evaan/leia content on the internet though which is Truly , A Tragedy