Can't Believe That I'm Asking This

I was thinking about kotor the other day and then i started thinking about juhani, and it got me to thinking; is she the only not 100% straight character in star wars?

RF: Locked because of a downhill slide toward Senate territory, among other things.

 

Well, many people seem to think that Threepio is gay...

 

Probably. SW doesn't cover that. It's about the force, not the orientation. Some characters make you wonder, like Obi-wan, and Kyp, Ferus Olin and his child sidekick, and even Palpatine (that wouldn't be that surprising), but people never speak of such things. And I think it's because in their world it doesn't matter at all.

 

Dzym 'oozed' sexual ambiguity.

 

I rather get the impression that in the chivalric, fairy tale world of the GFFA, homosexuality doesn't exist, at least not as we understand it.

 

Perhaps it is a utopia where it's excepted! Yet seeing as how every other form of discrimination exists in Star Wars, I wouldn't doubt that this issue also comes up, but only where we don't see it!

Seriously, though, those male Zeltrons in the old comics are the ones that seem most likely to be oriented as such. I mean, they have mesh shirts and everything!

Besides them Palpatine (mostly pre-Emperor) seems the most sexually ambiguous, although it could very well be a tie with Threepio.

The controversy of it is the obvious reason the notion's been left out of Star Wars almost completely.

Maybe I need to play the game again, but I don't think there ever was sufficient proof saying that Juhani or anyone else in the Star Wars universe was gay. You can heavily speculate, of course.

 

Visas was also at least a little gay for the female Exile. That could just have been the fact that the game was unfinished, though.

 

Waru didn't mind the fellas.

 

The programmers "accidentally" didn't change Juhani's programming to react differently to Revan if the player chooses female, so...Juhani is a lesbian by accident, at least ostensibly.

Any actual homosexual board members care to weigh in?

 

Would a bisexual count?

 

I think it's possible that because of the massive level of diversity on the species level, with thousands upon thousands of sentient species, individual sexual preferences may just sort of fall off the radar. This seems especially possible since most species can't breed with each other and are unlikely to be at all interested in what other species do with their genitals.

But that's all speculation. The topic is conspicuously absent.

I love the Zeltron sense of style in the Marvel books. It's like they're not just gay, but gay in the 80s on the set of Miami Vice.

However, despite the fashion sense and the logical implications of their hedonistic culture, it's worth noting that only female Zeltrons seem to hit on Luke and Han, and only male Zeltrons, buff, bare-chested, fuschia-skinned, well-manicured and delicately coiffed male Zeltrons, hit on Leia.

I don't think Palpatine is as much sexually ambiguous as totally asexual.

Agreed, which is pretty cowardly, to be honest.

 

I suppose. It's just a bunch of straight guys pointing at crap and saying, "That's gay," does not a discussion make.

I disagree, to an extent. Leave it out, avoid confronting it, and you avoid unnecessary polarization. You avoid politicizing something that doesn't have to be politicized.

 

It seems very strange that homosexuality almost never comes up, even as minor characters romantically paired that happen to be the same sex. Especially on planets that have very high population density. The out-of-universe answer is, of course, that adding it in would cause more of an uproar than leaving it out. It's irritating, though, because it seems too unrealistic. Particularly in places like Hapes, where men are of a lower class than women - why wouldn't some women decide to be together and use men as breeding stock if at all? (I'm not saying that's good - just that it's illogical that NONE of them are seen to do this, even as obvious but delicate allusions.) And pairs of spacers who are often in close quarters and spend time together, with nobody else, for LONG stretches of time - wouldn't at least a few of these pairs develop feelings that extend beyond friendship into romance?

 

The only thing in Star Wars that is close to sexual ambiguity are hermaphrodites. As much as I know, only the Hutts are

 

I don't really care. It's not like it's anything new. But it's a bit embarassing as a Star Wars fan to know that this is one place that Star Trek has us beat. Plus it's a bit surprising at the amount of bigotry among SW fans, although not surprising that they're all Fandalorians.

But A) I don't see why it would necessarily have to be politicized, and B) there are plenty of other stuff that's controversial in Star Wars (admittedly less so) - Mothma and Leia serving the NR and the number of female military officers when a large minority of Americans are opposed to women in such places, the complete absense of anyone other than white people in ANH (and probably would have been ESB too unless people complained), and of course the rabid promotion of the ideals of militarism, racism, and dictatorship via the fanbases around the Mandalorians and Empire.

 

Meh. Just having an openly gay/lesbian character for the sake of having one would be, IMHO, either tokenism or fanservice. I simply don't feel that Star Wars is the right place to explore issues like homosexuality.

 

Star Trek's record here is pretty dismal, too. Better than SW, but still not good. We have the TNG episode where Riker falls in love with the androgynous alien (who self-identifies as female), a few gay couples holding hands in Ten Forward, and some campy lesbian action in the mirror universe (Kira, Ezri and Leeta). The best handling of same-sex relationships in the TV show is Rejoined, which is a brilliant episode of DS9.

I've heard there are gay characters in the ST EU, but I don't really read ST EU much.

I do find it amusing that the SW EU product with the most overtly homosexual elements is also the one designed to cater to the most mainstream audience - the KOTOR video game, which appealed to a lot of people outside the geek ghetto. It seems to me that SW fandom, on the whole, is more conservative than the mainstream on this issue (and others, but that's a separate issue).

At this point, it would probably come across that way at first, if only because SW is so far behind and so out of step on this issue that it would be seen for what it would be: a deliberate attempt to introduce elements that have been deliberately erased from the fictional universe in question in a belated and kinda sad attempt to address the vacancy. It would be akin to the way nonwhite characters kind of gradually made inroads into the OT, kind of embarassingly drawing attention to their shameful prior absence.

It's not really an "issue" to be explored, though. It's just an aspect of reality, like trees or water.

 

Its simple. Lucasfilm wants to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. I wouldn't have an issue with it if it was mentioned mentioned in passing or added as a minor detail for a little realism, but if the novel dwelled on it and shoved it in my face just for the sake of having a homosexual character, I probably wouldn't read the book. Its not a topic i'm interested in and frankly I wouldn't want to read about it. If they did do it, it would probably be for shock value. So, to be blunt, I believe homosexuality is best left out of a fairy tale like Star Wars, as should most controversial social issues of our day. (No offense to any gay posters)

 

I agree, but I think they're misreading the public on this issue. I think the SW franchise (and the ST franchise) has passed the point where it is probably beginning to alienate more people by leaving it out than they would by bringing it in.

SW fandom is a bastion of conservatism in pop culture. Mainstream America, to the extent that such a thing exists, more-or-less accepts the existence and legitimacy of homosexuality more than it accepts anti-homosexual sentiments, and saying "I don't think it should be depicted in mainstream literature" is just as antigay as saying "I think it's morally wrong" or whatever.

I think SW is doing itself a disservice by continuing to cater to the biases of its current fanbase rather than broadening its appeal to a more modern, mainstream audience, or even a broader audience in the geek subculture. If you look at comics fandom, Star Trek fandom, Buffy fandom, anime fandom, or really any corner of geek culture other than SW fandom, you'll find queer content being used in a mature, sensible fashion.

 

I really doubt that Star Wars would get a flock of new fans because of a homosexual character. And it might serve to alienate some of the older fans, as you say. So why take the chance?

 

I don't think it'd be a good idea to have any gay characters. It'd be weird for the continuity if there was a gay couple, and all the characters accepted it as perfectly normal, when there's no historical record or mention of any other gay couple in history.

Although, Sarn Shild from The Hutt Gambit might've been gay. He didn't like humanoid females.

 

Because franchises age, and as society changes it behooves major franchises to keep up, or lose fans slowly by attrition. People have a good instinctive sense for atmosphere when it comes to fictional worlds, and SW is starting to come off as kind of musty, old-fashioned, and stuffy for a number of reasons, and one of the biggest is its sexual Puritanism. What appeals to more bright 13-year-olds? An episode of Buffy or Firefly, or Star Wars? What seems more contemporary?

It's little changes and slow evolution that keep well-known cultural icons fresh and relevant, and allow them to connect to broader ranges of fans as time goes on. Finally bringing queer content to SW runs the risk of alienating certain fans, but the longer it becomes obvious that SW is bending over backwards to accomodate those fans, the less appealing it will be to new fans, and the long slow attrition will whittle away at the fanbase until SW is a thing of the past.

I think it's just as plausible an explanation that no one's mentioned it before precisely because it's totally accepted and not noteworthy in any way.

 

Well, if you go by ratings...

Anyways, Lord of the Rings is quite popular, and it doesn't have any homosexuality. I don't see why Star Wars should be any different. But you do make a reasoned argument.

 

I must've missed the game dialogue where Juhani appeared to be homosexual. Can anyone help me out even if its just roughtly?