Queer representation and experiences in fandoms
By Raphael Renter via Unsplash
Fandom spaces have always been a place for queer people to find community, friends and understanding. Whether it be online on places like Twitter, Tumblr, TikTok or Instagram, or in-person at events such as Comic Cons, concerts or fandom meet-up events. Fandoms can span a large range of criteria, with many films, TV shows, musicians and even YouTubers having large LGBTQ+ followings. It is also extremely common that a lot of fandoms with a massive queer fanbase have great amounts of queer representation found within the content itself.
One franchise with a massive queer following is Star Wars. The saga began in 1977, when George Lucas’ space opera originally titled ‘Star Wars’ (later rebranded as ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope’) became an overnight sensation and launched what would become the biggest franchise of all time, which now spans decades of films, live-action television series, animated series, novels, comics and video games. Star Wars has been a franchise however that until recently, hasn’t historically been the best for LGBTQ+ representation. There were many fans that were very disappointed with the way that the Sequel Trilogy didn’t have the characters of Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) get together in the end, despite them having amazing chemistry, it fitting very well with the story, and the fact that John Boyega and Oscar Isaac pushed for it behind the scenes.
However recently, there has been excellent lesbian representation in the ‘Rogue One’ spin-off series ‘Andor’, which features the first ever queer relationship in live-action Star Wars between the characters of Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) and Cinta Kaz (Varada Sethu). This relationship and these characters have meant a lot to the LGBTQ+ community, myself included. Faye Marsay has said that what was important for her with Vel and Cinta was “to normalise the normal” and she said that she hopes that “The queer fanbase hopes that they have done that.” Varada Sethu said that she “felt honoured because representation is important” and that she hopes that “The queer Star Wars fans that are watching feel seen because you should be able to see yourself in media, and in the world, because you exist.”
Another big aspect of queer fandom is headcanons. A headcanon is defined as “elements and interpretations of a fictional universe accepted by an individual or small group of fans, but not necessarily found within or supported by the official canon.” One such headcanon in the Star Wars fandom is that Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is gay. This headcanon is so widely accepted that the official Star Wars Wiki ‘Wookiepedia’ lists Luke on its LGBTQ+ Individuals page. Mark Hamill has often openly talked about the idea of Luke being gay by famously saying: “I’d say it is meant to be interpreted by the viewer...If you think Luke is gay, of course he is. You should not be ashamed of it. Judge Luke by his character, not by who he loves.”
One area of Star Wars with exceptional LGBTQ+ representation is The High Republic Era. This era is set before the events of Episode I in the Skywalker Saga, from around 500BBY (Before the battle of Yavin) to 100BBY, during the period of time where the Galactic Republic is seen as a beacon of hope across the galaxy, and when the Jedi Order was at its most accepting, open and diverse. You can view my conversation with Jamie Tosh about The High Republic below.
Speaking of their experience in the Star Wars fandom as a queer fan, Jamie said: “I hate it. It’s a horrible toxic space filled with far right-wing dingbats that believe ‘Star Wars is woke now’, when Star Wars has always been woke. Shut up. Go away. It frustrates me.”
Another fandom with a massive queer fanbase and many queer characters is Doctor Who. Since 1963, Doctor Who has featured an abundance of LGBTQ+ characters and creatives behind-the-scenes.
The title character of The Doctor is queer themself being genderfluid and non-binary. The Doctor’s sexuality has been more fluid as presented in canon, with many considering The Doctor to be pansexual and asexual. The Doctor has described by Tenth and Fourteenth Doctor actor David Tennant as “A fairly asexual character.”
Time-Lords as a whole don’t have a concept of gender, as the Twelfth Doctor said to companion Bill Potts: “We’re the most civilised civilisation in the universe. We’re billions of years beyond your petty human obsession with gender and its associated stereotypes.”
There have also been several queer companions on the show, including Captain Jack Harkness, River Song, Clara Oswald, Bill Potts and most recently Yasmin Khan.
Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) and the first explicitly queer companion and Doctor romance storyline with the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker). This storyline came to a head in the 2022 New Years Day special ‘Eve of the Daleks’, where companion Dan Lewis (John Bishop) picks up on Yaz’s feelings for The Doctor, where Yaz confides in him and says “I don’t know what to do Dan. I’ve never told anyone, not even myself.”
In 2023, Ncuti Gatwa became the first openly queer actor to play The Doctor. His Doctor also got a queer romance storyline in the episode ‘Rogue’ from Series 14. In the ‘Bridgerton’ style episode, the Fifteenth Doctor falls in love with Rogue (Jonathan Groff). The episode ends with Rogue sacrificing himself to save Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) but not before telling The Doctor to find him, implying that there is the chance that he could return in a future episode.
Jamie Tosh is also a massive Doctor Who fan. When speaking about the show’s queer themes they said: “While it very much is, I don’t really interact with Doctor Who as queer media. While it is queer media, it’s just not something that connects with me on that level, but that’s just me and my interpretation of it. I like Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor and I like that he is queer and that he is flirtatious with Rogue.”
Jamie’s favourite queer Doctor Who storyline is the Fifteenth Doctor’s storyline with Rogue. They said “I like how they play off each other and I do like the character’s relationship in theory, but when they brought Rogue back for the Season 41/15/2 whatever you want to call it finale Wish World, he ends it with saying ‘I love you’ and I’m like you knew him for a whole fifteen minutes calm down.”
Taylor Swift is an artist with a massive queer following despite not being queer herself. Queer Swiftie Sarah says the reason why queer people relate to her music so much is because “Although the feelings aren’t about the same subject, a lot of it can be very similar like the sense of longing, wanting and feeling ostracised from people around about you, and although it’s not about the same things, the feelings are the same and it’s almost universal because she can write from a place of pure emotion and describe what another person is feeling and it can allow you to almost project yourself onto it rather than completely aligning with the experience, which can be a lovely thing. Sometimes as well, even the way she describes love for example, feeling like she can’t have someone because of her career, some people would argue that there is a sort of parallel there, which I can understand sometimes. But I think at the end of the day she’s just an incredible songwriter and that’s how it can be found in so many places that people can relate to things that describe not necessarily the relationships that they have but it's the feelings that re in those songs that really resonate with people rather than the subject matter.”
Sarah says the Swiftie community is a great/not so great space for queer fans because “It is a safe place for them, and it also isn’t. There’s a lot of people who are very accepting and things and most of us do tend to be you know, decent humans. But there are the bad eggs that give the rest of the community a bad name, because there’s certain sub-groups within the Swiftie community that think that it’s invasive to perceive the songs a certain way that’s not exactly how they’re written on the page, and then you get accused of being a Gaylor, which are the people that think that Taylor Swift is gay, and even if you just happen to be a queer Swiftie, your words can be co-opted and that can become a very toxic thing and lead to a lot of harassment. That is a very small minority, but it is very loud at times, but for the most part, the Swiftie community is a pretty safe space and that sort of behaviour gets called out a lot.”
Sarah also thinks Taylor puts the effort in to make sure that her fandom is a safe space for queer fans “I think she does that by being a vocal ally. She wasn’t always very open about it but during the Rep era was when she came out saying she supported LGBTQ+ rights, and she doesn’t scream it from the rooftops as often these days, she’s more subtle, she makes donations and things. A lot of people talk about the Lover era and how that was about equality, although there are some discrepancies there that people discuss about how it was maybe a bit of rainbow capitalism, but it was a good broad message for the general public to understand that she’s someone who supports these things. It did make the fandom a better place, as it made sure that we understood where Taylor stood, and it as good knowing that the leader of the community supports rights for others.”
Overall, fandoms have been a very inclusive space for queer people throughout the years, and that is part in partial to the fact that so many properties such as Star Wars and Doctor Who, and musicians like Taylor Swift include representation in their media and work continuously to make their fandom a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community.