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Licence To Queer covers queer aspects of Bond books, video games and more. Search here for your favourite titles and characters or find content related to particular queer identities (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, etc).

David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Queer re-view: For Your Eyes Only

Bond has gravitas (and gravity) again after the out of this world adventure of Moonraker. But being back down to Earth doesn’t mean we have to jettison the camp and the queer completely. And Margaret Thatcher gets chatted up by a parrot. Take that Section 28!

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David Lowbridge-Ellis. Pictures By Spencie d'Entremont. David Lowbridge-Ellis. Pictures By Spencie d'Entremont.

“The world deserves a transgender Bond girl”

Spencie d’Entremont is proud to describe herself as a trans Bond girl and nobody does it better than her when it comes to Bond girl fashion. We had a long talk about our favorite Bond girls, why she found them so inspiring when she was transitioning and what it would be like to have a trans person finally take a leading role in a Bond film.

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Queer re-view: On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Bond’s first queer director creates a masterpiece in which 007 gets a new face, goes undercover as a gay genealogist and finally takes a woman up the aisle. But his happiness is, perhaps inevitably, short-lived.

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Queer re-view: GoldenEye

Brosnan’s opening mission ends with the death of his best buddy. But unbeknowst to him, the object of his bromantic affections isn’t really deceased: he’s just watching from the shadows. Will Bond manage to stay Onatopp of things? Will he leave it up to a Russian computer programmer to save the day while he runs off to have a messy break up with his best mate? And will we ever get to the bottom of why 007 spends so much time hanging around in men’s bathrooms?

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Queer re-view: The Man With The Golden Gun

Like a bottle of Phuyuck ‘74, The Man With The Golden Gun has aged… interestingly. Officially, 007 is hot on the pursuit of (*checks notes*) something-to-do-with-solar-energy. But the real drama is whether Bond will be able to save his fractured masculinity in a ‘mano a mano’ duel to the death with Francisco Scaramanga.

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Bond books: ages 8 and up?

If it’s true that books we read as children influence us for the rest of our lives, then Thunderball, which I first read when I was eight years old, has a lot to answer for.

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Does your Martini leave you 'shook’?

Is there ever a good reason to shake a Martini? Bond only does it to disguise his fragile masculinity. Here’s how to make a beautifully clear Martini which shows you have nothing to hide…

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Queer re-view: Licence To Kill

Dalton’s second and final adventure has a fated bromance driving its Shakespearean rampage of revenge, with a cold-hearted hero, a warm-blooded villain and a very capable girl with a disdain for feminine clothing. And what IS going on with that Felix Leiter cigarette lighter?

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

My video game crush on Xenia Onatopp

In this love letter to GoldenEye’s Xenia Onatopp, I explore what my obsession with playing as her in the classic Nintendo 64 version reveals about me, as well as what the research says about the choices we make in video games.

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