Featured Posts
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).
Queer re-view: No Time To Die
James Bond is dead! But only in a literal sense. With classical parallels aplenty, No Time To Die secures Bond’s place in the pantheon of queer heroes, making a myth out of 007 by turning him into a being we recognise as human - whoever we might be.
(Gold)finger food - and lots lots more
Friend of Licence To Queer, Edward Biddulph (author of Licence To Cook) takes us on a guided tour through the somewhat gluttonous Goldfinger. Be warned: the multifarious delights are mouthwatering and sometimes messy. Better bring the napkins.
Salud! The end of an era!
In the time between Spectre and No Time To Die coming out, a lot has happened. For Sam Rogers, this included his own coming out. Here he reflects on what the film means to him as a gay man and a Bond fan in general.
Book Review: Fashioning James Bond by Dr Llewella Chapman
This indispensable book opens up the closet on six decades of Bond clothing. Like Bond with his fashion choices, Dr Chapman bends the rules, refusing to confine herself to a single gender. For once, it’s not merely the men’s garments garnering all of the attention.
“I'm going to tell you a story about a man. His name is Bond, James Bond.”
Given recent onscreen events, how could an uncle could resist introducing his five year old niece to James Bond? We only managed 15 minutes of Octopussy before the cats provided a sweeter distraction. Even so, the pre-title sequence left her wanting more of Moore, so we'll try again in another year or two.
That or the priesthood: Bond’s queer calling
In the world of Bond, religion is often portrayed as being as hollow as a diamond smuggler’s Bible. But questioning an institution does not necessarily preclude believing in it. Queer Christian Kathleen Jowitt uncovers deep connections between religion and 007, revealing that a monk and a hitman might have more in common that we might think.
No Crying Shame
No Time To Die has prompted discussion about what is and isn't "Bond", and has provoked emotional responses from fans and sceptics alike. In this unflinchingly honest and beautiful piece, Craig Gent reflects on his childhood relationship to 007 and how Daniel Craig's final bow has given him the Bond he longed for all along.
I wanna take Craig to a gay bar - here’s why
How are we supposed to feel about Daniel Craig’s ‘revelation’ that he prefers gay bars to straight equivalents? Why are some appalled while others are applauding? Why is this even a story anymore?
Book Review: No Time To Die - The Making of The Film by Mark Salisbury
There are Making Of books and there are Making Of books. This is the latter.
No Time To Die ‘off the cuff’
No Time To Die is a deeply, magnificently queer film, so it will take me some time to pull together my thoughts and polish them into a queer re-view. However, this is the rough first draft - in podcast form.
“Keep the fruit”: mixing up Felix Leiter’s masculinity
The line didn’t exist in the earlier drafts of Casino Royale. Is it just a throwaway quip or something more revealing of Felix’s character?
When someone says they meditate, what do you imagine them doing? Many of us picture someone in a lotus position listening to 'chillout' music. Not the sort of thing we associate with James Bond. However, there's both more - and less! - to meditation than this...