The Last of Us’s gay love story breaks new ground for an entire genre

HBO’S THE LAST OF US IMPROV ON THE GAME’S IMPLIED GAY ROMANCE
THE LAST OF US’ GEO GAY LOVE STORY COULD NOT BE MORE TIMELY
WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME?
WHY THE GAY ROMANCE “THE LAST OF US” MEANS SO MUCH
Y, ELLIE HAS ALWAYS BEEN GAY ‘THE LAST OF US’
‘THE LAST OF US’ CONFIRMED THAT BILL WAS GAY YEARS AGO
ARE BILL AND FRANK GAY THE LAST OF US? WHAT’S THEIR RELATNSHIP?
THE LAST OF US LETS GAY LOVE FLOURISH THE APOLYPSE
THAT ‘THE LAST OF US’ GAY LOVE STORY IS GROUNDBREAKG
'THE LAST OF US' STAR BELLA RAMSEY THKS 'S 'IMPORTANT' TO PICT LGBTQ LOVE A POST-APOLYPTIC WORLD: 'IT'S NOT LIKE ALL THE GAY PEOPLE GOT BLOWN UP'
WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? RELATNSHIP WH FRANK EXPLAED
WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? EXPLAED
‘THE LAST OF US’ PRENTS AN ACHGLY BETIFUL GAY LOVE STORY
GAY REPRENTATN ‘THE LAST OF US’ EMPOWERS LGBTQ+ GAMG MUNY
THE LAST OF US’S GAY LOVE STORY BREAKS NEW GROUND FOR AN ENTIRE GENRE

HBO’S THE LAST OF US IMPROV ON THE GAME’S IMPLIED GAY ROMANCE

The most recent episo of HBO’s The Last of Us has left some fans wonrg if Bill and Frank were a gay uple the origal game. * gay guys in last of us *

The show is already garnerg high praise for s third episo, which lved ep to a si story wh two gay characters at s re. Several more gay characters are sttered among the game’s st, and future episos — and seasons — will see the h characters realized live-actn for the first time.

Ellie Image via Nghty Dog That’s right, the lead character The Last of Us is part of the gay muny. The character’s sexualy is hted at the Last of Us gam, and many players termed that he was gay, but players didn’t get nearly the romance the origal that HBO livered wh “Long Long Time.

Bill is gay the game, but ’s referenced so vaguely that plenty of players missed .

THE LAST OF US’ GEO GAY LOVE STORY COULD NOT BE MORE TIMELY

'The Last of Us' Episo 3, featurg Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett as gay uple Bill and Frank, is earng an overwhelmgly posive reactn om fans. * gay guys in last of us *

The cisn to keep muted, hted at a sgle le of dialogue and a hidn letter, was both praised and cricized — was easy to overlook, but also avoid a lot of gay-character trop, and allowed Bill to be a human and not “a maniftatn of sexualy, ” as Polygon’s Danielle Rien put at the time. The game’s storyle don’t avoid trop altogether, though: It was cricized for “buryg s gays.

LGBTQ+ them are not somethg entirely new to The Last of Us anchise, as the first stallment of the seri also showsed a gay NPC and then a very graceful lbian kiss the Left Behd DLC. Bill is gay and had a relatnship wh a man lled Frank, who is later found ad the game, much to Bill's dismay. Unlike Da, Bill tri to hi his homosexualy and ially only refers to Frank as someone he had red for.

What we got stead was a psule episo, and a particularly bracg one, given the show’s opprsively bleak mood th far: The hour is dited to the love story of Bill and Frank, a gay uple who—due ially to Bill’s skills as a bunker-stockg, booby-trappg, Don’t Tread on Me survivalist—manage to build a largely happy existence together an abandoned and eventually fortified ral hamlet for almost 20 years. Wh Bill and Frank, we were given a portra of love—specifilly gay love—that feels surprisg and urgent.

WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME?

* gay guys in last of us *

In our own 2023, we are not exactly lackg for media imag of whe gay men.

WHY THE GAY ROMANCE “THE LAST OF US” MEANS SO MUCH

For one thg, we see gay sire portrayed all s plexy, but wh a touch as light as a breeze playg through curtas. Bill’s is not a “type” of gay man I n say I’ve ever seen mastream media before, and watchg him slowly reveal and epen that aspect of himself wh Frank’s help—sexually, y (Hollywood: more hairy bear love scen please!

But Bill and Frank create somethg else, a ltle oasis of their own that’s regnizably gay, full of quiet bety and joys the size of new strawberri. Frank wants to fix up the block and some of the “not stupid” shops—the we and furnure stor, the clothg boutique—bee he hop they might one day have unfected guts (which they eventually do, the form of Joel and Ts), but really bee makg thgs nice, pecially when nicens isn’t valued, is one of the great gay llgs. As an echo of the gay experience wh AIDS, is, as veteran activist Peter Staley put a Facebook post, a ftg tribute to the “tenr love & bravery gay men summoned when facg ath durg the plague years, cludg those who did so on their own terms.

Y, ELLIE HAS ALWAYS BEEN GAY ‘THE LAST OF US’

How powerful, then, to see not only a gay uple given an entire hour of a marquee show, but a gay uple who are held up as the keepers of civilizatn, as stewards of bety, as emblems of human digny and possibily. The most recent episo of HBO’s The Last of Us has left some fans wonrg if Bill and Frank were a gay uple the origal game.

Wh such drastic chang, pecially when to Bill and Frank’s relatnship, some are left askg if Bill was really gay The Last of Us vio game.

The biggt hts towards Bill beg a gay man are his relatnship to Frank and a certa magaze that Ellie steals om his stash the church basement, both of which n be missed by players not engagg optnal ntent or not payg close enough attentn.

‘THE LAST OF US’ CONFIRMED THAT BILL WAS GAY YEARS AGO

In fact, this new take on The Last of Us is already gettg a b uy wh another gay love story, one that marks a huge improvement over the gam. Anyone would feel the same that moment, but the specific pa they’re feelg is magnified even more bee they’re two olr gay men who felt isolated even before the apolypse me along.

There’s so much tenrns this moment still, somethg we rarely see any pictn of gay sex onscreen, let alone between two middle-aged men such big, mastream fare. You may be able to fd the same ntent another format, or you may be able to fd more rmatn, at their web of you reprentativ om the Miserable Onle League is gonna start somethg about Nick Offerman playg someone gay and I want to remd you he is married to Megan Mullally which qualifi as a gay marriage— nolan (@anxluxe) January 30, 2023Philip Ellis is News Edor at Men's Health, verg fns, pop culture, sex and relatnships, and LGBTQ+ issu. Ne years before the episo of the same name, Left Behd revealed that Ellie is gay.

Those are the qutns plagug Ellie, not the far more played out”Am I gay? Though this storyle ends wh a ad LGBTQ+ character, don’t necsarily follow the Bury Your Gays trope.

ARE BILL AND FRANK GAY THE LAST OF US? WHAT’S THEIR RELATNSHIP?

But The Last of Us Part II -wrer Halley Gross nfirmed no uncerta terms that Ellie is gay. While Jackson, Ellie is harassed by a homophobic man for kissg her iend Da. And yet The Last of Us was there 2014, nfirmg that one of the bt known characters gamg history was gay all along and handlg her first love as serly as this anchise handled the ath of Joel’s child.

“Long Long Time” has sparked several plats om the worst si of Twter about how The Last of Us allegedly shoehorned a gay relatnship. But the fact is Bill has always been gay.

So yeah, Bill has always been gay. If you are wonrg whether Frank and Bill are gay the show and the 2013 Nghty Dog vio game is based on, we got you vered. It gradually be apparent to the men that they both are gay.

THE LAST OF US LETS GAY LOVE FLOURISH THE APOLYPSE

It is que apparent that Frank was openly gay the world before the outbreak, whereas Bill had never been wh a man before Frank. “Frank’s an out and proud gay man, but Bill is Bill, ” Peter Hoar, the director of the episo, told Variety.

“Even though I’m not a middle-aged, married gay man, I’m a middle-aged, married man, ” he stated.

Acrdg to crics who have seen the show, we're gettg a whole lot more of The Last of Us' gay characters than we Last of Us follows Joel and Ellie as they travel across a post-apolyptic Ameri tryg to avoid fung-fected zombi.

THAT ‘THE LAST OF US’ GAY LOVE STORY IS GROUNDBREAKG

How The Last of Us creat a betiful oblivn for two gay men love. The third episo of The Last of Us, “Long, Long Time, ” featur a gay love story between two characters, Nick Offerman’s doomsday prepper, Bill, and Murray Bartlett’s wanrg artist, Frank. Stori on TV featurg queer characters are routely mishandled, givg rise to the “Bury Your Gays” trope where queer stori are plagued wh unwarranted pa and ath, so ’s rehg that The Last of Us shows don’t have to be that outbreak ed massive loss of life and stctn across the world, but for Bill, who adms a letter to Joel that at one pot he hated the world and was happy everyone died, the zombie apolypse is a eeg experience.

'THE LAST OF US' STAR BELLA RAMSEY THKS 'S 'IMPORTANT' TO PICT LGBTQ LOVE A POST-APOLYPTIC WORLD: 'IT'S NOT LIKE ALL THE GAY PEOPLE GOT BLOWN UP'

It’s probably a safe bet that, before the apolypse, Bill chose to stay the closet bee he wanted to spare himself the judgment and discrimatn gay people face, not to mentn humane anti-LGBTQ+ laws. But, thanks to the outbreak, all that disappeared overnight, and wh , seemgly, all of Bill’s fear about beg openly gay. Episo 3 director Peter Hoar and wrer Craig Maz get pots for tellg an excellent story that looks at the zombie apolypse genre through a queer lens, showg how would uniquely (and unexpectedly) affect a closeted gay man, but they go one further by learng om mistak ma by other shows.

Bartlett, an openly gay actor whose most famo rol have been as gay characters The Whe Lot, Wele to Chippendal and Lookg, is a well-chosen scene partner. There’s a good chance Bartlett will be playg a gay character: the ia that Offerman’s character might be too blossoms as litely as the pair’s relatnship. As the gam have been adapted for the screen, there has not exactly been a wealth of gay characters to choose mak Bill’s barely-mentned relatnship The Last of Us somethg of an outlier.

Gay storyl on TV, while not ubiquo, are not unheard of. The episo tled "Long, Long Time" stars Nick Offerman as Bill, a character om the origal game who is implied to be gay. "It's not like all the gay people got blown up and don't exist anymore, you know what I mean?

WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? RELATNSHIP WH FRANK EXPLAED

*WARNING: Spoilers ahead for The Last Of Us*The story of Bill and Frank is only briefly touched upon The Last Of Us vio game, but episo 3 of HBO’s adaptatn has dramatilly expand on their relatnship what is a notable viatn om the source enthrallg episo is filled wh tensn, joy and heartbreak as tells the pair’s story over almost two s, begng wh their first meetg after Frank fell to one of Bill’s follows is a betiful love story that has left fans wh a number of qutns, wh some askg whether Bill was gay The Last Of Us game self. TERMINAL ILLNESS: FRANK’S FATE IN THE LAST OF US SERIES IS A HUGE DEPARTURE FROM ORIGINAL GAME© HBO | Liane HentscherWas Bill gay The Last Of Us game?

Y, Bill is nfirmed to be gay The Last Of Us vio game. Speakg The Last Of Us podst, Craig Maz reerated this pot, sayg: “This wasn’t a new ncept that Bill was gay, that’s the game.

Here’s everythg you need to know about if Bill was gay The Last of Us game. Full Explanatn While both Bill’s sexualy and relatnship wh Frank were never explicly stated the game, there is plenty of evince to pot towards both Bill beg gay, and him and Frank havg mataed a romantic relatnship.

WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? EXPLAED

On top of this, Ellie also steals a gay pornographic magaze om Bill’s locker, to joke around wh Joel. So y, n be duced that Bill was very likely to have been gay The Last of Us game, or at least have some sexual attractn to men.

‘THE LAST OF US’ PRENTS AN ACHGLY BETIFUL GAY LOVE STORY

That’s all you need to know about if Bill was gay The Last of Us game. A man who his alone a bunker, after all, don’t have to worry about beg rejected, by eher homophob or other gay men who simply aren’t terted. “It was geo, and I was so not expectg , ” said Darn Lowenste, 41, a vio game nsultant, who is gay.

“Obvly, I’ve played the gam religly and I know there’s gay characters there, but I was not expectg an 80-mute … tearworthy piece of art.

GAY REPRENTATN ‘THE LAST OF US’ EMPOWERS LGBTQ+ GAMG MUNY

” Queer-themed gam date as far back as 1992’s “Gay Bla, ” acrdg to the LGBTQ media advocy group GLAAD. Though Bill’s role the game is small, and his mentn of beg gay brief, did not go unnoticed by LGBTQ gamers like then, he was his early 20s and still the closet about his sexualy. ”Adaptatn giv gamers hope for more reprentatnSome queer viewers exprsed excement that Sunday's episo would expose even more people to gay vio game characters.

The gravy of the Last of Us gay reprentatn nnot be overstated, as brgs LGBTQ+ people to the ontl of mastream actn/adventure vio gam for the first time. And th, the betiful Last of Us gay reprentatn opens up a whole world of possibili for LGBTQ+ characters.

Growg up as a gay and genrqueer person, I never had high hop for seeg an LGBTQ+ character as the ma protagonist a vio game seri. What the gay reprentatn ‘Last of Us’ provis for LGBTQ+ people. We gather groups at gay bars and llege universy clubs to fe a safe space for LGBTQ+ people to enjoy vio gam.