# Gay Main Characters in SF **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001 "2013-06-14T17:21:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/21 "2013-06-14T19:51:16Z")
The main character in Richard Morgan’s _Steel Remains_ is gay, and a badass swordsman. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/22 "2013-06-14T20:02:12Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > The main character in Richard Morgan’s _Steel Remains_ is gay, and a badass swordsman. You mean, a bad ass-swordsman? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/23 "2013-06-14T20:05:10Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Captain Janeway Oh fie, Sir, fie! Back to David Gerold, his protagonist in the series about the war against the chitor (sp) is at least bi. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/24 "2013-06-14T20:18:14Z")
The title character in Lois McMaster Bujold’s novel _Ethan of Athos_. In fact, he comes from a planet where everyone is gay–it’s an all male world. And he’s an obstetrician! (It makes sense in the book.) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/25 "2013-06-14T20:21:44Z")
Speaking of Bujold, there’s also Aral Vorkosigan, whose bisexual. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/26 "2013-06-14T20:30:10Z")
> [@bup](#): > > It’s tough to categorize the people of the planet of \*Gethen \*(_Winter_) in _**[The Left Hand of Darkness](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Left_Hand_of_Darkness)**_. > > They’re all one sex, except when they go into estrus, where one partner remains ‘male’ (during non-sexy periods of life they’re outwardly male), and the other becomes female. I’d argue that Estraven, who is one of these people, is a co-main character with Genly-Ai. It’s not estrus, it’s kemmer. Estrus is strictly a female occurrence, just as rut is a male occurrence. Kemmer is when a person changes from a neuter being into a sexualized being. It’s been a while since I read the book, but I was under the impression that the people of Winter didn’t really have partners…when they knew they were starting kemmer, they went to kemmer houses, to have orgies with the other folks in those houses, and maybe they had sex with the same people in later kemmerings, and maybe they had sex with new people, but I thought that they didn’t pair bond. I might be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/27 "2013-06-14T20:37:17Z")
Felix Gaeta from **Battlestar Galactica** was bisexual; at least in the webisodes. His boyfriend, Lt Hoshi, appeared to be gay, or at least was never shown to be in to women. I think the Cylons were bisexual by default, though the Number 5s really pinged my gaydar. The Ones not so much. Of course labels like gay, straight, & bi are completely meaningless in Colonial/Cylon society. > [@Mrs.Cake](#): > > Captain Jack from _Doctor Who_ and _Torchwood_, although he might be said to be omnisexual rather than gay. Though the latter 2 Torchwood miniseries really play up the “like’s men” angle to the point where it seems like he’s exclusively gay. > [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > This is a bit of a stretch but Lafeyette from True Blood and Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer would qualify… Russell Edgington, Steve Newlin, and Talbot would qualify too. > [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > …The Baron Harkonnen is a sadistic boylover, who favors youths that look like Paul Atreides. I don’t THINK that he has sex with actual kids, but rather with young teens. He’d probably have sex with little kids if only to hear them squeal, but what really turns his crank are teen boys who resemble The Fated One. I always wondered if his nephews were exempt from his proclivities. I’m guessing no. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/28 "2013-06-14T20:37:23Z")
Stewart Gilligan Griffin ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/29 "2013-06-14T20:40:33Z")
Oooh! Just thought of another series! The main character in Ellen Kushner’s \*Swordspoint \* is in a same-sex relationship (both men are bisexual), and the two of them are supporting characters in the followup, _The Privilege of the Sword_. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/30 "2013-06-14T20:42:24Z")
I think that Baron Harkonnen left his nephews alone sexually, because he was trying to mold them into tools and heirs, and screwing them might interfere with their usefulness as various tools to him. I don’t think he would have left them alone out of consideration of their feelings, or because they were family. Harkonnen was pure monster, or at least all we see of him is pure monster. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/31 "2013-06-14T20:48:49Z")
> [@Rysler](#): > > Steve Jinx in Warehouse 13 > > Of those, only Camille gets to live out her gay lifestyle on screen. Jinxie just got to share a kiss and presumably more with his ex last ep. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/32 "2013-06-14T20:59:13Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > It’s been a while since I read the book, but I was under the impression that the people of Winter didn’t really have partners…when they knew they were starting kemmer, they went to kemmer houses, to have orgies with the other folks in those houses, and maybe they had sex with the same people in later kemmerings, and maybe they had sex with new people, but I thought that they didn’t pair bond. I might be wrong. At least you remembered the word ‘kemmer.’ I remembered that when one of them got pregnant the couple did stay together. Or at least Estraven. I could be wrong too. Anyway, it’d be hard to call any of that gay, the more I think about it. But I’ll let the OP decide if it’s of interest. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/33 "2013-06-14T21:09:59Z")
[Samuel R. Delany](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_R._Delany) has for decades been the most prominent gay science fiction writer. His books are full of characters of every shade of sexuality. He also writes transgressive gay porn, memoirs of his real-life gay adventurousness and mainstream novels with gay characters. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/34 "2013-06-14T21:14:04Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Now Dumbledore we were told i s gay, but there is nothing really gay about him in the books to be honest. Is that a requirement? :dubious: Character is X, therefore Character must be shown clearly engaging in X related behaviors? ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/35 "2013-06-14T21:20:59Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Is that a requirement? :dubious: > > Character is X, therefore Character must be shown clearly engaging in X related behaviors? I think there were little hints throughout the books when you looked for them–the biggest two being in Rita Skeeter’s tell-all biography: his relationship as teenagers with Grindelwald, and the fact that after that fell apart he never married or was even described as having a girlfriend. Though I admit I didn’t see it until Rowling stated it, it was clear to me after the fact that Dumbledore had been seriously hurt by what happened between him and Grindlewald, and basically became celibate and avoided relationships for the rest of his life. But he was still gay. ---
**Author:** ![boozilu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@boozilu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boozilu)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/36 "2013-06-14T21:23:10Z")
Ivanova and Talia in Babylon 5 (Ivanova confessed that she thought she was in love with Talia). Robert Sawyer’s Neanderthal Parallax (Hominids, Humans, Hybrids). In the book the Neanderthals live with a same-sex partner three weeks a month (IIRC). ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/37 "2013-06-14T21:25:47Z")
_Buffy (tVS)_ is SF? Maybe, I don’t understand the term. If it is though, then besides Willow, Tara deserves a mention. Also, ugh, Kennedy. In _Firefly_, Inara entertained a female client, which led to an often-quoted line from Jayne. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/38 "2013-06-14T22:08:48Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Oh fie, Sir, fie! > Back to David Gerold, his protagonist in the series about the war against the chitor (sp) is at least bi. Well, that depends on whether you think he was actually in control of his own actions during that particular episode. I was under the impression he had been brainwashed rather thoroughly, if I recall the book correctly. Also, if he was under his own control, he’d be a pedophile. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/39 "2013-06-14T22:18:08Z")
It wasn’t in the books, but movie-Sam and movie-Frodo sure gave off a gay lovers vibe. (if you’ll allow that SF could include fantasy, i.e., “speculative fiction”) ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001/40 "2013-06-14T22:30:48Z")
> [@boozilu](#): > > Ivanova and Talia in Babylon 5 (Ivanova confessed that she thought she was in love with Talia). There was also a scene with them in Ivanova’s quarters, followed by one of Ivanova waking up and reaching over to pat an empty pillow, with the implication that Talia was sleeping there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gay-main-characters-in-sf/661001.md?page=3)