Comments on: Davis: Syfy Promises More LGBT Characters

By: Raymond H. Clark

Raymond H. Clark — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:57:25 +0000

Larry Townsend wrote some great leather sci-fi. He has passed away, but his estate is, I believe, still reprinting the books and selling them on the Net. Google “Larry Townsend” or “2069″ and see what you come up with.

Sci-fi is strange about sex in general. They have worn those unisex tunics and trousers with dance belts (to avoid showing bulges) practically ever since “Destination Moon” (which is telling MY age ).

Cheers,

Bud Burgoon-Clark
San Diego CA USA

I wanna see Ianto TOP Capt. Jack! (chuckle)

By: Drewski

Drewski — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 05:09:02 +0000

I can’t focus on the gay part right now. SyFy–WTF??? Who is responsible for that? Is the renaming all a gimmick?

By: Lael Gardner- Stalnaker

Lael Gardner- Stalnaker — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:37:14 +0000

Mercedes Lackey’s Last Herald-Mage Trilogy was the first mainstream full on out gay hero in fantasy. In her Valdemar series, she has had out main characters all along.

Anne McCaffery also had gay characters in her Pern series, though on the oblique side due to it being mostly written in the 70′s. As the series has matured, she clarified an honorable place for gay men within the society she created.

Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, while not strictly within the genre of sci-fi/fantasy is close enough. Many of her books have that same-sex tone that is very appealing.

So, the book end of things has been around for quite a while. Considering my shelves are filled with sci-fi/fantasy from nearly all periods of writing, I have a good range to work from.

Movies, tv… well, not so much. You’ll have to go foreign to get anywhere, some Japanese sci-fi, definitely anime. Otherwise sparse.

By: commentor

commentor — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:32:26 +0000

The name change is one of the worst re-brandings in marketing history. I assume it will be undone within a matter of months.

As for “gay characters”, the important thing is to be respectful of people, no matter what their differences, without distracting from a narrative. We don’t need gay characters for the sake of diversity (token pandering), nor do we want a glossing-over of gay plot elements for the sake of political correctness (in either direction). What we want is “blindness” to the orientation of characters. All networks – whether their names be fortunate or unfortunate – need to allow the creative freedom for a diverse staff to flourish. It is only then that a full spectrum of experiences can emerge.

By: reikiboy

reikiboy — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:45:55 +0000

I prefer fantasy to science fiction but the bookstores usually lump them together so my recommendation is for you to read these books by Mercedes Lackey: Magic’s Pawn, Magic’s Promise, and Magic’s Price. The lead character, Vanyel, is the perfect hero who happens to be gay. I connected with it when I was young because of the way he was treated by his father.

By: Liam Sauer-Wooden

Liam Sauer-Wooden — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:17:58 +0000

There were no Gay characters on any of the StarTrek shows.

By: Andrews1701

Andrews1701 — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:07:22 +0000

I am curious as to what you are referring to as “gay characters” on Star Trek. I am a Trekkie and do not recall a character being gay on any of the series. While there were “gay moments” (Jadzia’s Kissing a Woman) it was usually temporary or shown in the Mirror Mirror universe. I am curious as to who you seem to think was gay on Star Trek. (Yes, George Takei came out of the closet, but his character didn’t) Gene Roddenberry himself stated in an interview back in like 1990 once that he wished he could show LGBT characters in Star Trek but the higher ups did not want it. Sadly he died before it could become reality and it has not really become reality, well not on the series anyway. In the novels there have been a number of gay characters including Lt. Hawk from Star Trek: First Contact. Sadly the novels do not count though. I was only talking about the shows. So again I reiterate,

When did a gay character appear on Star Trek?

Thanks for listening.

By: Kari

Kari — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:53:12 +0000

I would like to correct myself. Apparently there was a gay character in Battlestar Galactica.

Leeanna: If I understood GLAAD’s methodology correctly, they will not judge a character ‘gay’ unless they ‘come out’, are described as being gay in promotional materials, or some kind of same-sex interaction occurs that is outside of what can be considered being a close friend.

By: Ian

Ian — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:14:24 +0000

randy, hopefully, syfy will finally consider to make those SF (fantasy) books into TV movies or TV shows. I’m curious as to what are those books. Thanks.

By: randy

randy — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:24:18 +0000

In the 80s, I found many sci fi (and fantasy) books with queer content, on my own, at my local chain bookstore. SF (no pun intended) is an area rich with queer sexuality, but those stories are almost never moved to the screen. One significant book that comes to mind is Dhalgren. But it’s probably unfilmable.