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Licence To Queer
From No to Never: the Connery charity fundraiser
From No to Never: the Connery charity fundraiser

This year’s charity watchalong is all 007 of Connery’s Bond films, back to back. Join us for some or all of it on 29 and 30 May to help us raise funds to prevent suicide.

Book Review: Hurricane Room
Book Review: Hurricane Room

JAMES BOND IS ALIVE. That’s not a spoiler as it's there on the cover. But in what state will he be after being imprisoned for so long by the enemy? (Please note this review does not contain any spoilers, besides the one on the cover!)

Inside the Hurricane Room: learning to cope like James Bond
Inside the Hurricane Room: learning to cope like James Bond

James Bond is not always the best role model for staying mentally healthy. When faced with battles in his own brain, he’s far likelier to slip into avoidance behaviours (martinis, girls, guns) than deal with them head on. Even so, within the pages of the original Fleming’s books, we find that Bond’s creator was ahead of his time: he was not only interested in the treatment of mental difficulties, but also armed 007 with a coping technique recommended by professionals today.

Anything Bond can do, Bond Girls can do better
Anything Bond can do, Bond Girls can do better

Nobody does it better than 007, allegedly. For International Women’s Day - and in the interests of equity - let’s celebrate six occasions where women showed Bond they’re not merely his equal, but can do things better than him.

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 MBE David Lowbridge-Ellis MBE

Queer re-view: Quantum of Solace

An unsettling and emotionally truthful queer parable, the direct continuation of Casino Royale teaches us that finding ourselves is a painful ongoing process, not a one off event. The film delivers its lesson like a brick through a plate glass window. Cutting quickly (too quickly for many) and deeply (Octopussy this ain't!), most of the svelte running time is a setup for a showdown with Bond's most persistent and insidious enemy: himself.

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