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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).
Exemplars of British fortitude
Despite me being British, sport has always bored me to tears. So imagine my surprise when I found myself bawling my eyes out with pride in our sportspeople twice in one day! Perhaps their Bond-like approach to overcoming adversity had something to do with it?
He runs while others walk
Running probably saved my life. It’s saved Bond’s more than a few times as well. Here, I look back at his running career - which was not exactly impressive until Daniel Craig brought more metrosexual physicality to the character - and compare it with my own, which started soon after I my first viewing of Casino Royale.
Double or Nothing
Inspired by the forthcoming novel from Kim Sherwood, this new cocktail features two kinds of gin. Don’t blame me if you start seeing double.
Look what the cat dragged in: is the world ready for a more feline James Bond?
More than shifting his gender or sexual orientation, surely the boldest way to reinvent Bond would be to make him care for something other than himself. A cat, perhaps? After looking back over 70 years of books and films, I’m convinced the idea has legs (four of them).
“Diana Rigg helped me realise I wasn’t straight.”
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.
Top Gun Maverick
In this podcast, David and Antony rev up their engines, listen to her howlin' roar and play with the boys, lavishing praise on the Top Gun sequel they didn't know they wanted.
Rogering for UNICEF: Mission Report
More than 90 Bond fans raised more than £2700 for Sir Roger’s beloved UNICEF. Rewatch the cocktails, the costume changes and the chaos here!
For Her Majesty’s (Not So) Secret Service
A new cocktail for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Whether served in a glass or a hip flask, it’s delicious ma’am!
Book Review: With A Mind To Kill by Anthony Horowitz
Horowitz’s title is more than a snappy, idiomatic-sounding, Fleming-esque selection: it signals his intent to lay bare the mental workings of Bond. Will we like what we find?
Rogering for UNICEF - Friday 3rd June
Join us in raising money for Sir Rog’s beloved UNICEF as we watch all 7 of his 007 films back to back during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend. Here’s everything you need to know…
Nobody Dubonnets It Better
The Queen's favourite cocktail is a Gin and Dubonnet. Ahead of the Platinum Jubilee, we've added a (Kir) Royale touch by adding a wash of crème de cassis. Serve with a lemon twist and a partially submersed Lotus Esprit.
What if we reframed the whole of the Bond franchise as the story of a man just trying to get a good night’s rest? Lifelong insomniac David Lowbridge-Ellis gets under the covers with 007 to explore when he sleeps, if he’s really the early riser he claims to be and why we should be concerned about his dreams.