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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).

David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

From a View to a Twill

According to Gentleman’s Gazette, "Tweed is as close to British national dress as you might get”, so it’s fitting that Bond, that other icon of Britishness with Scottish origins, has worn it on multiple occasions - on screen that is. In the books, Bond only wears tweed once. Why is this? Why does Fleming put his villains in the fabric but rarely his hero? And does Fleming’s own wardrobe give us any insights into how he felt about tweed?

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

This dream is for us: celebrating a decade of same-sex marriage

On 29 March 2014, same-sex marriage became legally possible in England and Wales, something that nine-year-old David could never have fathomed happening back when he was perturbed by watching James Bond get married in You Only Live Twice. Having been happily married for almost all of the last decade himself, why does it still feel like he’s living in a dream?

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Antony Lowbridge-Ellis & David Lowbridge-Ellis Antony Lowbridge-Ellis & David Lowbridge-Ellis

James Bond’s Comic Capers

James Bond comics predate the films and are still going strong today. This new series of podcasts starts with a run through of Bond’s history with ‘sequential art’ before segueing into a review of the first arc of the modern Dynamite series: VARGR by Warren Ellis and Jason Marsters.

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Casino Royale: the cocktail

We’ll be starting our upcoming #TimeToDonate charity watchalong/drinkalong of Casino Royale around 9am. But if we start with the signature drink of that story - Vesper Martinis - we'll be wiped out before lunchtime! This twist on a classic Champagne cocktail (made with English sparkling wine) will work for breakfast time - or any time.

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Our Months in Bond

Antony and David debate the merits of the various Bond comic books published by Dynamite Entertainment, including the new run by Garth Ennis. As usual for the 'Our Month' podcast, they look back on the many ways Bond has intersected with their daily lives and look forward to the major events happening in the coming months. They also create a new cocktail: the Casino Royale.

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Live and Let’s Bow Tie

This year's International Jim Fanning Friday took place on Friday 16th February. In 24 hours, the Licence to Queer community raised hundreds of pounds for PAPYRUS - Prevention of Young Suicide.

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Shadow of SPECTRE

“MI6 needs your help. It is critical you follow 007's trail. Gather intelligence, navigate the city and solve clues in a bid to outsmart Spectre…” A treasure-hunt style experience across London guided by your phone. We give our verdict here.

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Bond Girls are for Everyone: the results (so far)

The enduring appeal of Bond girls goes well beyond their status as sexual objects bringing voyeuristic pleasures to a presumed heterosexual, cisgender male audience. Or does it? In the first research of its kind, we’re investigating the reasons why Bond girls appeal to so many different demographics. Are these reasons the same for gay and straight viewers? Are people with different sexual orientations and/or gender identities drawn to different Bond girls? Here are the initial findings…

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Where to begin with the Bond continuation books

With a drought on the Bond film front, why is everyone not quenching their thirst with the Bond books? Perhaps it's because, with more than 50 continuation stories published in the sixty years since Fleming's death, it can be hard knowing where to start. Setting each other the mission of proving the case that there's a Bond book for every mood and every taste, Licence to Queer's David Lowbridge-Ellis and Mark Edlitz, author of James Bond After Fleming, have each curated a list of seven 007 continuation novels.

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David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

The (Stephen) Bourne Identity

Stephen Bourne saw Goldfinger in the cinema in 1964 as an ‘impressionable little gay boy’. Author of one of the first (if not the first) books to see Bond films queerly, Stephen reveals how his thinking about the ‘offensive’ characters in Bond has became more nuanced since he wrote the book - and urges everyone to keep a more open mind.

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