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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).
Queer re-view: Dr. No
You would think that a film which opens with three men pretending to be blind would alert us to the need to look at things differently. But six decades of straight-washing has obscured quite how queer Bond’s beginnings were - and still are to this day. It’s high time we took the blinkers off: Bond was born this way.
The fantasy you’ve freed in me: ‘80s Bond meets classic ‘80s TV
Many of you will have seen Sam Rogers’ videos where he brilliantly re-imagines ‘80s Bond films as the most iconic TV shows from that decade. Here, Sam gives a personal introduction to each video and shares his video editing journey.
Queer re-view: Casino Royale (1967)
Have no fear, James Bonds (plural) are here! Far from a ‘straight’ take on a Bond story, the ‘67 Casino Royale is much maligned. But in many ways, it’s well ahead of its time. Whether by accident or design, it’s a experience which is not merely open to queer readings, but warmly welcomes them in. Leave at the door your pre-conceptions about what ‘James Bond’ is or isn’t and prepare to join what the original trailers called “the Casino Royale fun movement”.
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.