GLBT characters in Science Fiction

[Samuelx]

Have you noticed that there aren't many gay, lesbian, bisexual or transsexual characters in the realm of Science Fiction ? I'm not talking about a distant side character. I'm talking about the main character, the hero of the story. Have you noticed that ?


You know, I've written a story about a bisexual man who fights for humanity in a war in the distant future where ordinary humans are dominated by genetically enhanced super-beings. This macho bisexual male is tall, good-looking, Black and he leads a militia through space as well as on planet Earth.

His bodyguard is a cigarette-smoking Robot inhabited by the memories and consciousness of a deceased gay drill sergeant. His second in command is an openly gay male who is also Telepathic. Together with a wild animalistic woman with super-keen senses, they fight to protect humanity from extinction. Standing in their way are robotic armies, cyber-zombies and bio-engineered monsters who serve a genetically enhanced, power-hungry Overlord.


The story takes place around 2087 A.D. after global disaster thanks to a certain Texan president who unleashed hell on earth during his last day as president.


I've got the story completed. It's 150 pages long. Think anybody would pay to see a movie based on that ?

 

[Wolfman1982]

Well, I would love to see a manga over it, or a comic over it.

 

[Missouribiguy]

There are more bisexual, gay, and transsexual characters in sci-fi then you think. I remember making a thread at SCI-FI.com's bulletin board. I going to dig it up and let you all read it.

EDIT: I can't find it. Bummer.

 

[smirf]

Hi Folks

This is my 1st post on the site so apologies in advance for any mistakes!

In the new series of Doctor Who one of the Dr'd two companions is a Bi male Cpt Jack Harkness played brilliantly by the the actor John Barowman. The character of Cpt Jack has been so popular he is getting his own spin off show called Torchwood, which will have a more adult theme.

I believe DVD of the series will be made avaliable in the US. It is allready released on region 2 DVD

Both the two series have been written by Russle T Davis who created the original Queer As Folk series.

Hope this info was of interest.

Smirf

 

[ezervet]

i don't know about Sci-Fi, but i know one of my favorite series of fantasy novels, The Herald Mage Trilogy, has a gay main character. series covered him, in addition to you know fighting evil, going through alot of issues with his sexuality. really good series. and an uncommonly complex main character to say the least.

and i read it when i was in sixth grade, maybe it affected me? (not written for sixth graders though, i'd say.)

 

[Queersetti]

There are more bisexual, gay, and transsexual characters in sci-fi then you think. I remember making a thread at SCI-FI.com's bulletin board. I going to dig it up and let you all read it.

EDIT: I can't find it. Bummer.

I found a list that looks pretty comprehensive.

http://www.mamohanraj.com/balist.html

 

[neonflux]

Thanks for the list -

Amazing...

I found a list that looks pretty comprehensive.

http://www.mamohanraj.com/balist.html

And Samuel, I do think your story would make a great comic book and then film...

 

[Samuelx]

Amazing...

And Samuel, I do think your story would make a great comic book and then film...

Thank you very much, all of you. It's printed and hidden in my basement. I hope to share it with you, and the rest of the world, someday soon.

 

[Tymeless]

if i ever find the time i plan on writing a book about that where the main char is kinda like a transexual and some of the characters will be gay or bi. will be a fantasy book like dragonlance of some sort.

 

[Samuelx]

if i ever find the time i plan on writing a book about that where the main char is kinda like a transexual and some of the characters will be gay or bi. will be a fantasy book like dragonlance of some sort.

I encourage you to write it. I know plenty of GLBT people who are dying for a chance to read about "family" in science fiction/fantasy books.

 

[Wolfman1982]

if i ever find the time i plan on writing a book about that where the main char is kinda like a transexual and some of the characters will be gay or bi. will be a fantasy book like dragonlance of some sort.

Please write it in the Draon Lance world, or another A D&D world (or just D&D to those who only knew 3. and 4. edition of the roleplaying game).

I know a person, heck he is my best friend, and he loves the stories here on lit, and well. If you write a Dragon Lance or another RPG world novel, heck I would recomend him the story

 

[Tymeless]

i plan on it i wrote some last night at work and i'm gonna make it a point to work on it now.

 

[Raimondin]

I remember in the original Star Trek series, once in a while touched upon gay themes but in a campy or comedy fashion. In fact I think Capt. Kirk (William Shatner) stereotypical mannerisms as a woman in one of the season's final episodes was hilarious to have extended a main character that far considering the times.
In the British cult series Red Dwarf, the ship's computer, Holly, underwent a sex-change, and Rimmer, in one episode gives birth to babies. I have most of the series on DVD.
More recently on the Scifi Channel, the Canadian LEXX series always included gay characters or themes. In one episode the crew lands on this planet where there's a monastery and one of the monk's falls in love and offers himself to Stanley, the ship's navigator captain, in a rather amorous scene.
I think it's a little more difficult to find gay characters is serious scifi. Although in the first Alien movie, I always though it very gay subliminal that the facehugger attached itself to John Hurt's face inserting a long appendage down his throat to impregnate him. Monster male rape?
Let's see how far scifi can take us.

 

[Missouribiguy]

Hey Vic, you forgot to mention that on the original Battlestar Galactica, there was a supposed relationship between Apollo and Starbucks, in that they could be more than friends.

On the re-imagined series, I know there is a rumor of one of the minor characters (Mr. Felix Gaeta) might be a homosexual or a Cylon.

 

[RogueLurker]

Resources and Conventions

Check out GLBT Fantasy Fiction as a good resource of both Fantasy and SF books with GLBT themes/characters. It includes rating and reviews to help sift through what is worth tracking down and what may not be.

There's also the Gaylaxicon 2006 Convention being held this June in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It's sure to be a geekfest ... and I'm sure that I'll be dragged off to it.

 

[RogueLurker]

I can't let this thread go by without plugging one of my all time favourite SF novels: Slow River by Nicola Griffith. The story, her writing style ... makes for a fascinating read. (Lesbian protaganist in a non so distant, not so utopian future)

 

[artisticbiguy]

The primary stories I have posted online (not here on lit, I only put short stories on lit) are all either Fantasy or SciFi with gay or bisexual main characters. I hope to get the revised, finished versions published in the next couple years.

I have not read or seen much fantasy or SciFi with gay/bisexual main characters, so I think I'll check out the Herald Mage series mentioned in an earlier post.

 

[Samuelx]

Sometimes, while watching Mr. Spock on the old Star Trek series, I found myself wondering about him. He's tall, handsome, masculine and stoic. A certain blonde lady had a crush on him, as I recall. He only had one female lover in the series, and that was a wild woman from Vulcan's past. He spent way too much time around Captain James T. Kirk, a guy who loved the ladies a lot but seemed to love sex and sensuality in general. I wouldn't be surprised if James T. Kirk was secretly bisexual. He looked like he'd sleep with anything under the sun. Maybe Mr. Spock was bi too ? He cared deeply for a Vulcan female named Saavik. There was something very much like sexual tension between him and the ship's physician, "Bones".