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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).

Sam Rogers Sam Rogers

Tracy Bond. The queer icon we deserved.

In this tribute to the late Diana Rigg, Sam Rogers compares the way Tracy Bond is presented in the book and the film of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and asks: “Why does Tracy resonate with me and many other fans? And how do her own triumphs and tribulations correlate with the queer community, and gay men in particular?”

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

007’s Last Picture Show?

What might the delay of No Time To Die mean for the future of film-going in general, and individuals like me who depend on the cinema to shine a light into our lives when things go dark? I take a look back at my own experiences of seeing Bond on the big screen, how a re-release of From Russia With Love helped me realise my boyfriend (now husband) was ‘a keeper’ and why I’m both angry and relieved about the delay.

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Play it again, queer Bond fans

How many of the Bond songs strike a queer chord? The answer, when I asked Licence To Queer readers, turned out to be ‘quite a few’! Here I reveal my own favourites alongside your top selections.

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David Lowbridge-Ellis. Art by @actuallyjamesbond, aka 'Felix' David Lowbridge-Ellis. Art by @actuallyjamesbond, aka 'Felix'

The Spy Who Includes Me

James Bond might not, at first glance, appear to be the most likely LGBTQ+ icon, but queer people around the globe are drawn to him. A queer fan from the Netherlands actually draws him. In their new work, they take a classic Bond look and add a recently-updated icon: the more inclusive pride flag.

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Kathleen Jowitt Kathleen Jowitt

What makes you think this is the first time?: assumption, possibility, and bisexuality in Bond

‘What makes you think this is my first time?’ Bond asks Silva, who’s got him tied to a chair and is running his hands up his thighs. And a legion of queer Bond fans cheers – quietly, so as not to disturb the rest of the cinema. Let’s be real: Silva wasn’t the only one who assumed that this was the first time. Kathleen Jowitt explores Bond’s bisexuality.

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Sam Rogers Sam Rogers

Time to reset the gayme Mr Bond?

The wait for No Time To Die has been made even more interminable for gamers of all persuasions by the complete lack of new Bond video games to fill the void. With Craig’s swansong imminent, gaymer Sam Rogers takes a look back at the Bond video games, including the ‘golden age’ of his childhood, and speculates about their potential future after the producers have officially hit the reset switch. Could the next generation of Bond video games be a path to better representation for groups overlooked by the film franchise?

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Hot Bond boys with bit parts

Ever since Dr. No, it’s been a policy of the filmmakers to fill minor roles in Bond films with stunningly attractive women. I think it’s time we hit the pause button and enjoyed some of the Bond blokes with small parts (it’s not the size that counts!) to the same appreciative gaze.

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Queer re-view: From Russia With Love

Seductive Russian agents used as honeytraps, British civil servants photographed in compromising positions, sex scandals... and that was just in the real world. On cinema screens, Bond was embarking on his second adventure, a story you could have ripped from the headlines. All in all, there was rather a lot going on in 1963.

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Sam Rogers Sam Rogers

Bury Your Bond Girls?

Jill, Tilly, Paula, Aki, Plenty, Andrea, Corinne, Solange… None of these girls make it to the end credits alive and some of their deaths serve purposes which are dubious at best. Sam Rogers explores how the Bury The Gays trope can be applied to the girls that Bond fails to protect.

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Fleming Reading Challenge: Reflections on Casino Royale

In my offline life I teach English so I took an absurd amount of pleasure in writing these questions to accompany a reading of Casino Royale. But don’t worry - they’re more like book club reflections than questions you’d get in an English lesson, although don’t blame me if you end up accidentally learning something. And there are definitely no right or wrong answers (such an English teacher thing to say!).

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

“What kind of girl do you think I am!”

Appearing in only one scene, The Living Daylights’ Rosika Miklos is nevertheless one of the most memorable characters in any Bond film. So I was overjoyed when the actress who brought her indelibly to life, Julie T. Wallace, shared with me her thoughts on Rosika and the nature of her previous “work” with 007.

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