26 for ‘26
2026 is an important year for Licence to Queer: we turn 006 years old! In this time, we’ve published more than half a million words about queerness in Bond, put out dozens of podcasts, raised more than £9000 for charity and created a real community. 2026 also marks the 20th anniversary of Casino Royale - without this film, Licence to Queer probably wouldn’t be here. And 2026 is going to be the year when we learn a lot more about Bond 26. We’re poised to bring our unique perspective to all of these developments. To get us warmed up, we’ve curated 26 pieces from the last 006 years.
Choosing just 26 items from six years of Licence to Queer was hard! In the end, I went for things which gave the most representative flavour of the many myriad parts which make up Licence to Queer, including articles, podcasts, collaborations and even recipes. They’re presented in roughly chronological order from earliest to latest.
By my count, more than forty people have made significant contributions to LTQ over the last six years. By significant I mean having written at least one article or been the focus of a podcast episode. If we were to add in everyone who has participated in fundraising or the community activities - such as Jim Fanning Friday - we’d be in the hundreds, if not thousands. If we were to further add everyone who engages with the social media accounts and reads the website, we would be into tens of thousands.
Inevitably, not everyone can be represented here. But I want to say thank you to everyone who has been here for some, or all, of the journey so far. And if you do want to make a contribution, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
001: ‘How queer is James Bond?’ by David Lowbridge-Ellis
The first thing to ever appear on Licencetoqueer.com, back in April 2020. Starting as we meant to go on…
While I have never pushed the clickbait-y agenda of ‘Bond could be gay or bisexual’, I do believe one of the reasons the Bond franchise has always appealed to queer audiences is because it presents us with possibilities. The scene in Skyfall where Bond responds enigmatically to Silva’s seduction attempts provided a way in to exploring (after Alfred Kinsey) that sexuality is a spectrum. As this would be an idea I knew I would be constantly returning to over time, I decided to have this short piece ready to go for when I went live with Licencetoqueer.com.
002: ‘Queer re-view: Casino Royale’ by David Lowbridge-Ellis
Before I published anything on the LTQ website, I wrote the first three queer re-views offline: they were Casino Royale, Diamonds Are Forever and Licence to Kill. I started with these because they’re about as different - certainly in terms of tone - as you can get. Writing about these three would allow me to make it clear from the outset that queer appeal is complex and can’t be reduced to things which are merely ‘camp’ (Diamonds Are Forever). Serious stories hold appeal for queer audiences too. I chose the most ostensibly ‘straight’ Bond film to explore this: Licence to Kill. These early queer re-views poured out of me: the ideas contained therein had been going around in my head for years. This was especially the case for Casino Royale, the film which has turned me back onto Bond after briefly falling out of love with the franchise following Die Another Day.
Casino Royale arrived at a difficult time in my life. Without it I may not have ever come out as gay. I may not even be alive.
In my queer re-view of Casino Royale I explored how the film works - for me at least - a coming out story for Bond.
Even though the queer re-views have evolved a great deal since (and the word counts have expanded considerably!) I’m still proud of these early efforts.
Diamonds Are Forever, Licence to Kill and Casino Royale also happen to be three of my top five Bond films. Yeah, I don’t have a preferred ‘flavour’ of Bond!
003. “The world deserves a transgender Bond girl"' by Spencie d’Entremont, as told to David Lowbridge-Ellis
Right from the start, I wanted Licence to Queer to be a community: a place where queer fans of Bond could make their voices heard. And with the occasional queer ally. There was to be absolutely no gatekeeping.
A motivation to create Licence to Queer was my frustration that Bond discourse had, for far too long, been dominated by straight guys. That’s nothing against straight guys - some of my closest friends are… etc ;) But I''m still a guy. And I’m gay, probably the most privileged group within the LGBTQIA+ community. What about the girls, the non-binary folk and the people representing the rich diversity of other queer identities?
So I was delighted when, within weeks of starting Licence to Queer, self-described “transgender Bond Girl” Spencie d’Entremont trusted me to help tell her story.
004: Why do LGBTQ audiences love superheroes?: Queer stars on Batman & Bond | Why We Love (The AV Club)
When I started Licence to Queer, I had no idea how popular it would become. I would have been happy if only a dozen people decided to engage with what I was putting out. It was satisfying enough to get the thoughts out of my head which had been going around for decades.
So I was quite taken aback when the media requests started coming in almost instantly.
I particularly enjoyed my chat with Cameron Sheetz, which was published by The AV Club in their ‘Why we love’ series.
005. What makes you think this is the first time?: assumption, possibility, and bisexuality in Bond by Kathleen Jowitt
Let’s be real: Silva wasn’t the only one who assumed that this was Bond’s first time. Kathleen Jowitt explored her own bisexuality alongside Bond’s in this hilarious and thought-provoking article.
Kathleen’s piece from a queer Christian perspective is just as brilliant.
006. “Homos make the worst killers” by David Lowbridge-Ellis
Wint and Kidd are some of the most ‘problematic’ characters in the Bond series - but I’ve loved them since setting eyes on them in Diamonds Are Forever, when I was aged eight. In an effort to work out the root of my unhealthy obsession, I decided to re-read Fleming’s novel and ended up with more questions than answers. Are they even gay? Why is one of them nicknamed ‘Boofy’? And what does my attraction to such horrible characters reveal about me?
I’ve been asked to speak about Wint and Kidd (and Diamonds Are Forever in general) on innumerable podcasts, starting with an epic 11+ hour review of the film with the Really, 007! boys. And I will happily talk about them forever!
007. ‘007 notes on Camp’ by David Lowbridge-Ellis
Camp is integral to Bond but widely misunderstood.
You could save yourself the colossal time and energy you would expend trying to explain the meaning of Camp to someone by just telling them to watch a James Bond film - any James Bond film. Especially one starring Sean Connery. Susan Sontag would agree with me.
Camp is something I return to regularly. See, for instance, my chat with academic and author Paul Baker, who has written the book on Camp - quite literally.
008. ‘“So poetic a pleasure”: Simon Raven and the seductive poetry of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service by David Lowbridge-Ellis
To my knowledge, no one had ever explored in any depth the contribution of Simon Raven to one of the best Bond films - so I set myself the mission.
Credited with writing ‘additional dialogue’ for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and responsible for some of the film’s most memorable and poetic lines, outrageously outspoken queer writer Simon Raven had much in common with Bond, including his snobbery, his far from conventional sexuality and a scandal from his school days.
The role that queer people have played in the creation and evolution of the Bond franchise fascinates me. I have also written at length about important figures such as Noel Coward and Peter Hunt. Jordan Welsh wrote this superb piece about Fleming cover artist Dicky Chopping.
009. Jim Fanning Friday by the Licence to Queer community
A cult phenomenon based around a character with barely five minutes of screentime, Jim Fanning Friday demonstrates the dedication and diversity of the Bond fan community. It was celebrated internationally on 26th February 2021 for the first time - but not the last. Henceforth, the final Friday of February will be #JimFanningFriday.
0010. ‘Play it again, queer Bond fans’ by the Licence to Queer community
The first time I did one of these articles, bringing together the views of as many people in the Linence to Queer community as possible. I asked people to explore why they liked particular Bond songs. Some of the interpretations were eye-opening (I’ve never listened to The World Is Not Enough in the same way since!).
Another great article explored the use of the Dalida song in the pre-titles sequence of No Time To Die. Written before the film’s release, the author, Läne Bonertz, was pretty prescient!
0011. ‘15 Shades of Gray’ by David Lowbridge-Ellis
I had THE most fun writing this and it’s become one of the most viewed pages on the whole of Licencetoqueer.com
Charles Gray’s Blofeld is a divisive figure to say the least. But whether you love him or loathe him, there’s one thing we can all agree on: he is shady. Here I unpick Ernst’s most waspish comments to reveal the uncomfortable truths about both him and the man he cannot live without - James Bond.
0012. Queer re-view: Austin Powers International Man of Mystery by David Lowbridge-Ellis
Another perennially popular article. It’s always in the top three most viewed on the website.
To round out Licence to Queer’s very busy first year in existence, I decided it was time to apply my queer re-view methodology to Austin Powers. Yeah, baby!
The better part of three decades has passed since Austin Powers first appeared on our screens, the amount of time which Austin and his nemesis, Dr. Evil, were frozen. Has time been kind? Is Powers still groovy? Does he swing or leave us unmoved? Is he the free-spirited antithesis of Bond (as a prolific 007 director claimed) or is he actually just a bit too well behaved?
0013. ‘No Crying Shame’ by Craig Gent
One of my absolute favourite pieces on the whole of Licencetoqueer.com.
No Time To Die prompted discussion about what is and isn't "Bond", and 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.
Craig has subsequently written about living up to masculine ideals and the character of Kara Milovy.
0014. ‘The name’s Leflour, Jill Leflour’ by Jill Leflour
My queer re-view of No Time To Die inspired a Licence to Queer reader to reach out and share their own story…
Growing up in rural France, Jill created a James Bond persona to try to process his gender dysphoria. Now out as a trans gay man, living and working in London, Jill attended the premiere of No Time To Die. We talked about why James Bond means so much to us as queer people, why we see things others overlook and how our partners accommodate our Bond obsessions.
Jill has subsequently gone on to become an internationally famous model.
0015. Queer 007 characters: In conversation with Calvin Dyson
After an article erroneously claimed that Ben Whishaw’s Q was the first LGBTQ+ character in Bond, Calvin Dyson and I met up to set the record not-so-straight.
0016. The Bond Sexperience: please be advised! by Sam Rogers
Bond’s bed-hopping puts him more in sync with gay men than straight men - or so the stereotypes would have us believe. Prolific Licence to Queer contributor Sam Rogers takes an honest and funny look back over his love life to date, drawing parallels with Bond’s.
0017. ‘What DO you do?’ Asexual coding in the James Bond universe by Fenna Geelhoed
“It might sound strange for an asexual person to be a Bond fan, given that sexual attraction is such a big part of the character’s world…” Fenna Geelhoed sets asexual representation in her sights and targets the best and worst examples from the Bond series.
0018. Spectre-al Visions: Queers, Horrors and Bond by Callum McKelvie
Waking up to a golden cadaver; witnessing an astronaut suffocate in space; watching a woman be torn apart by dogs; wincing as a man’s head decompresses… the world of Bond has given many of us nightmares. Perhaps it’s this transgressiveness which makes both Bond and horror films such good (death)bed mates. Callum McKelvie investigates.
0019. “Diana Rigg helped me realise I wasn’t straight.” In conversation with Kathyrn Vinclaire
An award-nominated voice actor and filmmaker, Kathryn Vinclaire is also a massive Bond fan who identifies as bisexual. Like many of us - even gay-identifying men like me - she has a “massive crush” on Diana Rigg in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. We discuss her Tracy Bond awakening moment and why the world of Bond is such an open space for queer people like us.
0020. “This is an opportunity to allow more readers to see themselves as the hero.” An in-depth conversation with Kim Sherwood
Little did I know that this, my first time ever talking with Kim Sherwood, was to be the beginning of a wonderful collaboration - and friendship. I’ve made no secret of my adoration of her Double or Nothing series of books, especially for the character if gay Double-O Joseph Dryden. Kim and me have gone on to do lots of events together, both online and in-person.
I’ve also have the great pleasure of getting to know other Bond authors - and wonderful people in real life - Charlie Higson and Raymond Benson.
0021.“Licence to Queer is a community…” Interesting 2022 conference, London by David Lowbridge-Ellis
I was asked to deliver a talk about Licence To Queer at Conway Hall in Central London. In this 10 minute presentation I speak about why I created an online space for queer Bond fans at the start of the Covid-19 lockdowns and how it has grown into a true community.
0022. Early drafts with Tom Mason
I’m fascinated by aarly versions of Bond films that never reached the screen - so is academic Tom Mason. So far, Tom and me have worked our way through the multiple iterations of Diamonds Are Forever, The Spy Who Loved Me and The World Is Not Enough.
0023. Sir Hilary Bray Day by the Licence to Queer community
On 1st April, we choose to wear tweed and raise money for charity in homage to brass rubbing enthusiast Sir Hilary Bray and the man who brought him to life - George Baker. This was inspired by a series of conversations with George’s family. Listen to Rosie Sherwood and me talk tweed (and her grandfather) here:
0024. “We’re just looking”: gazing at Bond through the ages by David Lowbridge-Ellis
One of the most ppular articles on Licencetoqueer.com
Daniel Craig emerging from the ocean was not as revolutionary as we think. In fact, it was more of an evolution of something that has always been there in the Bond series: an invitation, whatever our gender or sexual orientation, to look - lingeringly, even longingly - at James Bond himself.
0025. On Our Minds Only? Bond fans talk mental health (video/podcast series)
Mental health is not discussed enough, despite it being an important element of the 007 stories. In this series, I talk very openly about mental health with members of the Bond community. I have a theory: these are the sorts of things on many of our minds but we often struggle to put them into words. Maybe we can change that? So far, the series runs to 11 episodes, with 8 contributors. Alex Lamas joins me for three episodes, covering anxiety, depression, sleep and meditation.
0026. Death for Breakfast (The Coldest Weapon of All) - cocktail recipe
One of over 50 original cocktal recipes created by me and my husband. This is an ice-hearted twist on a Vesper, in honour of The Best Character in Die Another Day, Miranda Frost. Serve straight from the fridge.
