There’s been excement about Q’s queer revelatn ‘No Time to Die’ but the anchise’s first gay characters appeared all the way back 1971’s ‘Diamonds Are Forever’. Fifty years on, Adam Bloodworth talks to the actors who played Mr Wt and Mr Kidd about why they’re worth celebratg
Contents:
- JAM BOND'S FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER REVEAL NO TIME TO DIE MA ME TEAR UP
- ‘I KNEW WAS A URAGEO THG TO DO’: THE CUR STORY OF BOND’S FIRST GAY VILLAS
- 'NO TIME TO DIE' HTS Q IS GAY LANDMARK LGBTQ+ SCENE
JAM BOND'S FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER REVEAL NO TIME TO DIE MA ME TEAR UP
In the 1950s, homosexual acts, or at least on volvg mal, were agast the law the Uned Kgdom. In the post-war perd, a number of real-life Brish spi, such as the Cambridge Four fected to the Soviets, and some of them, such as Guy Burgs and Antony Blunt were attracted to men, which helped create a negative image of gay spi.
Lren Spungen cricized the portrayal argug that the "battle between heterosexualy and homosexualy" is a metaphor for the battle of "good and evil". He forms part of the gay gentleman's outfter trope, which n be found Brish culture om ss such as Are you beg Served?
It is subtly hted that he may be a relatnship wh Q, if so that would make this film's Q the first gay one until Ben Whishaw. Fordyce is a Bond ally, but also reprents a mcg stereotype of a gay man. Wt and Kidd who never refer to each other by first name the film of Diamond Are Forever are a gay male uple.
‘I KNEW WAS A URAGEO THG TO DO’: THE CUR STORY OF BOND’S FIRST GAY VILLAS
In the novel Kidd is nicknamed varly "Dolly" or "Boofy" (the latter nickname also ed the film), and Felix Leer says he spects Kidd “probably shacks up wh Wt”, and says "some of the homos mak the worst killers". Actor Javier Barm who plays Silva, when asked if the character was gay or bisexual said, “You uld read that way.
Ben Whishaw's Q is shown to be a gay man No Time to Die, and is wag for a male date the film. Ben Whishaw himself is a gay man real life.
This is the first time one of Bond's "support team" has been shown to be openly gay, but was not ma obv earlier appearanc of Ben Whishaw's prev portrayals of the character.
'NO TIME TO DIE' HTS Q IS GAY LANDMARK LGBTQ+ SCENE
The 1967 Caso Royale film has s own mp Q, but is not clear if he is gay (he do have a spat wh Fordyce), although Geofey Bayldon himself was. Assistant Commissner Ronnie Vallance appears the novel of Moonraker, and is not gay. While wag for his ntact, Assistant Commissner Ronnie Vallance, he be creasgly ncerned that he might be mistaken for eher a crimal or one of the fluential people “sperately hopg to persu Vallance that their sons were not really homosexuals”.
It’s a remr that 1955, when Moonraker was published, homosexual acts were still crimal offenc.