Star Wars Film Franchise to Include LGBT Character

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This past Friday, I came across an article about how J.J. Abrams says that the Star Wars movie franchise will eventually include an LGBT character. From the article-

"To me, the fun of Star Wars is the glory of possibility," Abrams said. "So it seems insanely narrow-minded and counterintuitive to say there wouldn't be a homosexual character in that world."

I applaud Abrams for saying this and for understanding that in any world, this one or in a galaxy far, far, away that there are LGBT people and they should be included. I'm not saying there should be a sudden coming out story among all the action. I don't think anyone would appreciate that. But if there are heterosexual characters, then there should also be someone who identifies as gay or who just happens to be in a relationship with the same sex. As long as it's done with respect, I think it will be an exciting thing to see in such a popular, well-loved series. 

What do you think about this statement from Abrams? Did you read the entire article? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

-Lauren

Star Wars Book: Homophobic Reactions

Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig features a new, gay character called Sinjir Rath Velus. For those of us that support LGBT+ rights, this is a fantastic thing. That's not the case for a lot of other people though. I was on the blog My Bookish Life the other day and writer, Ramona, shared this story with her readers, noting that there is a lot of homophobic backlash based on this character.

Ramona shared a quote from Chuck's blog that gives his reaction to all of this, and I wanted to share that here as well because I think it's fantastically written:

On his blog, Chuck Wendig wrote, “If you’re upset because I put gay characters and a gay protagonist in the book, I got nothing for you.” Because, he added, “You’re not the Rebel Alliance. You’re not the good guys. You’re the […] oppressive, totalitarian Empire. If you can imagine a world where Luke Skywalker would be irritated that there were gay people around him, you completely missed the point of Star Wars. It’s like trying to picture Jesus kicking lepers in the throat instead of curing them. Stop being the Empire. Join the Rebel Alliance. We have love and inclusion and great music and cute droids.

Thank you to Ramona for sharing this story and be sure to read her initial blog post for more information. 

Please share your thoughts below,

Lauren Becker