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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).
“Happy Birthday James!”
Kim Sherwood and David Lowbridge-Ellis celebrate 70 Years of Bond by getting together with an audience to talk all things Fleming.
Book Review: On His Majesty’s Secret Service by Charlie Higson (no spoilers)
Written in haste so it could be released in advance of the Coronation of King Charles, there were concerns that Higson’s ‘fast show’ of a novel might not manage to keep the Bondian end up. But what could be more appropriate for 007 than a race against time?
You only allude twice: Fleming’s associations between Shakespeare and St George
April 23rd is a double celebration in England, with both of those being celebrated – St George and Shakespeare - coming together in the climactic chapters of not one but two Bond novels.
A Japanese musical of Casino Royale!
Takarazuka Revue’s ‘Casino Royale - My name is Bond’ is not only the first stage play of 007; it’s also a musical. And all of the roles - including Bond himself - are played by women. Here is our extensive coverage of this unforgettable one-of-a-kind production.
“Welcome to Japan, Mr and Mr Lowbridge-Ellis.”
In April 2023, David and Antony used their wedding anniversary and Antony’s birthday as pretexts to head halfway around the world for Bond bars, civilised baths, mountains, sunsets and lots more besides.
Feasting like there’s no tomorrow: the ‘Donate Another Day’ menu
This year’s Licence to Queer UNICEF fundraiser ‘Donate Another Day’ features a smorgasbord of Brosnan-themed recipes created especially for the occasion by Bond food expert-without-equal Edward Biddulph.
From the sleeper train, with love
It has never made logical sense for Bond to choose a train over a plane, but that hasn’t stopped the 007 series making sleeper trains synonymous with romance and excitement. Why fly when you can travel by rail?
Diamonds Are Forever: undressing a collecting obsession
Diamonds Are Forever has had some of the series’ finest covers. The latest edition, published to mark 70 years of Bond being in print, is no exception. But it’s also a twist with tradition, taking things in an aptly deadly direction. Looks like I’m going to have to find more space on my shelves… and hopefully not a new husband.
Anything Bond can do, Bond Girls can do better
Nobody does it better than 007, allegedly. For International Women’s Day 2023 - 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.
Jim Fanning Friday 2023: Bow Ties Are Forever
Jim Fanning Friday celebrates the dedication and diversity (and some might say insanity) of the international Bond fan community. This year’s event, on Friday 24th February, was our biggest yet.
007 decades of LGBTQ+ history
The Bond books, films and games are more than just cultural artefacts: they comprise a time capsule of seven volatile decades of social and political history - especially LGBTQ+ history. Although the lives of queer people over this period have generally improved, it’s a mistake to see this improvement as universal - or linear. Sometimes putting one foot forward has been swiftly followed by having to take two back. For seventy years, Bond has been there, reflecting and representing this ever-changing world in which we’re living.
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.