ST Diversity in the Sequel Trilogy (see warning on page 11)

That's exactly what bigots are afraid of - that their children will grow up tolerant of homosexuality, and, drum roll, maybe even become gay themselves!

 

Does Homosexuality even exist in the SW universe?

 

Yes, There is a homosexual character in a novel. Not sure which one.. Thats about all i know about it though..

 

I believe Sinjir and Sloane from the Aftermath trilogy are both gay.

Not to mention that it's a completely ridiculous question. In a massive, heavily populated galaxy with a disproportionate number of humans in it (probably in the quintillions in terms of population) why would homosexuality not exist?

Oh, right. Because trolling.

 

Was Rae Sloane gay? Admittedly I sped through each book in the aftermath trilogy but I'd completely forgotten that.

Sinjir is a fantastic character, I'd love to see him on screen

 

Well I was genuinely wondering about it since I haven't ever heard of gay characters in any SW material. Their ideas of sexuality maybe different from ours. It's possible that homosexuality doesn't exist at all.

Personally I'll be okay with it as long as it's done properly like any het romance. Not making it stand out like "Hey look this is a gay couple!" Poe seems to be the only one who might be gay. Rey? Possibly.

 

Homosexuality is not an "idea about sexuality." It's a human physical reality.

 

It's a fictional universe where there is sound in space and where people can achieve supernatural abilities by believing. Whether or not any species within it exhibit homosexuality is entirely up to whether any writer decides that it is so. If a writer decides that there is, then whoopdidoo there is. If not, then there isn't. Simple as that. Although, I will say that since it's a universe invented to be entertaining to humans and have characters that humans identify with, it stands to reason that the characters that populate it will exhibit all human characteristics.

 

So let's have some whoopdidoo then.

 

Is it really needed right now though? Homosexuals make up a very small percentage of the total population. We haven't even had proper diversity yet - no well-developed Asian character yet. Bodhi, Chirrut and Baze don't really count since they were throwaway characters in a spin-off movie. For a population of more than 2.5 billion that's pretty sad.

 

There are several gay characters in the novels (canon).

 

straight people exist in star wars universe? So bi/pan/gay/trans exist too

 

Yes.

So who gets to exist and who doesn't is decided on a proportional basis, eh? Because that is what you are questioning: someone's right to exist.

So the problem of not having proper diversity, is solved by having less diversity?

 

There's no reason Lucasfilm can't make progress along multiple dimensions at the same time. LGBT rep doesn't have to come at the expense of POC rep.

And while I would love to see a POC as a lead - especially a WOC - I would hardly say Bodhi, Baze, and Chirrut "don't count" just because they were supporting characters. In the context of a movie that was generally light on character development, I'd say all three had pretty prominent roles. And let's not forget that Rose is apparently going to be the biggest new role in TLJ.

 

Whenever the discussion gets either very broad, e.g. different people advocating for different groups given priority, or very narrow, e.g. pages and pages of people very angry about the lack of representation for their bugbear only, it brings me back to my over-riding thoughts about diversity in Star Wars; Star Wars quite simply doesn't release enough movies to be able to do it all, to be able to please everyone at the same time, unless it does so as its absolute priority (which I accept, some people would like)

We have to look a bit broader to representation in pop culture as a whole, and have expectations that Star Wars will play its part, and hopefully take a lead, in promoting diversity, without expecting it to do it all.
And we should, when pressing for the representation we want, realise that there are various groups who all want the same thing. I've barely seen, say, trans representation mentioned at all, and while it's not a cause close to my heart, the question "why cant we have a transgender hero" is every bit as valid as every other similar question

 

I dunno. You rightly question pleasing everyone at the same time, which given production and runtime constraints is not possible.

But I challenge the idea that diversity and representation are about pleasing or gratifying anyone. Not trying to pick a fight, I just don't think of it that way.

 

I think you're right, I was talking in terms of discussion here rather than the wider reason for diversity' I'm just meaning that when people are zeroing in on one aspect, they need to recognise that there are various other groups who feel equally strongly, so a;l groups should really be championing diversity in all its forms and from all angles, recognising each step as a positive, rather than (say) being like "all very well we have X but where's Y?"

 

And this is where a thread like this meets its limitations. I am a firm believer in staying on topic, mind you, but a thread like this (in addition to being a bit of a troll-magnet) can have a bit of a feel like, "Here is this thought corral where we get to fight each other over scraps of representation."

 

What percentage of the population can move large objects with their minds?

 

If it's going to give us more characters like Chirrut then we need WAY more asians in Star Wars Donnie Yen was amazing in Rogue One.

Baze Malbus was great too for that matter.

 

Moff Mors from Lords of the Sith was a lesbian. I believe that there's at least one gay character in Lost Stars. Dr. Aphra is either a lesbian, or bisexual. Same with Sana Starros (Han's fake wife from the SW comics), and there are likely others (I haven't gotten around to reading all of the nu-canon books/comics yet).

Also Rae Sloane has been implied to be bisexual as well (but IDK if that's been 100% confirmed).

 

Sinjir from Aftermath is also gay.

 

I think he's talking about them viewing sexuality in a different manner than the way we deal with it.