It’s an exciting place, that galaxy far, far away. The Star Wars films are filled with action, romance, and humor but, up until very recently, they weren’t a very inclusive place. There are a few notable exceptions, but for the most part the Star Wars films were predominately made by and marketed towards straight, white men. Following Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm and the revival of the franchise, however, that has changed. Female characters now serve as the protagonist more often than the damsel in distress, and diverse casting choices are becoming the norm, not the exception. And yet, there is one notable exception when it comes to representation on the big screen: Star Wars has yet to introduce an LGBT protagonist or major character.

The new canon novels are doing a better job of representing different sexualities. Many of the books contain references to LGBT characters, and Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy features the multi-platform universe’s first gay protagonist. Yet when it comes to films and television shows, things have remained consistently heterosexual. The original trilogy and the prequel trilogy can be forgiven because of the time in which the films were made, but now times have changed and more questions are being asked about whether Star Wars will broaden its horizons.

Fans and journalists have become obsessed with finding scraps of representation in the films and shows. Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) biting his lip while gazing at Finn (John Boyega) birthed a thousand fanfics, and the Finn/Poe phenomenon has become so widespread that Josh Gad even asked Boyega about it at Star Wars Celebration. Similarly, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story fighters Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) and Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen) drew similar interpretations from fans. There are countless other readings of a variety of characters as LGBT, and yet, with the exception of Aftermath’s Sinjir, all protagonists remain either explicitly straight, or with their sexuality left undefined.

Disney faces perhaps a greater hurdle than other studios when it comes to LGBT representation, since the brand is uniquely targeted towards younger audiences, and there is a cultural perception that LGBT characters are more adult or explicit than heterosexual ones. In fact, until Beauty and the Beast let LeFou out of the closet earlier this year (albeit in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment), there had never been an overtly gay character featured in a Disney movie. Beauty and the Beast might have drawn controversy, but it also drew a staggering $1.14 billion at the box office, demonstrating that LGBT characters can be included in a children's film with no apparent impact on commercial success.

There is, of course, a small but noisy corner of the Star Wars fanbase that vehemently opposes LGBT inclusion (bolstered by trolls who have only a glancing interest in the franchise, but seize on any opportunity for "anti-PC" campaigning). It can be disheartening to see such comments flooding the discussion, and it's  easy to lose hope, or to paint all fans with the same brush as these trolls. But these fans are not the norm. Over the past week, I have spent time with fans from all walks of life and spoken to them about the need for LGBT representation in Star Wars. Some of these fans are in their teens or twenties, while others are older. Some identify as part of the LGBT community, others do not. What is important is that these are the fans who are pushing for better representation and who are standing up against the hateful trolls. These are the fans who truly embody what Star Wars is about: love, community, courage, and hope.

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From One Generation to Another

Finn and Poe reunite on the Resistance base in Star Wars The Force Awakens

In one corner of the vast Star Wars fandom, a forum thread is constantly bustling with discussions of whether or not there’s enough diversity in the franchise. Recently the topic has turned to LGBT representation in the films. Arguments against non-hetero characters largely cite quality control as the reason for their opposition; after the disaster that was the Anakin and Padmé romance in the prequel movies, these fans say that they only want LGBT romances that are well-written and serve the story. Yet this is a complaint never brought up in the romance thread, where fans happily debate the merits of Finn/Rey vs. Finn/Rose.

It is on this forum that I met Bert, a Star Wars fan arguing in favor of representation. Bert’s daughter is gay, and in an interview he explained that he feels the urge to defend others like her:

“I do it for any vulnerable people who might be watching the interaction. I try to think of what my young daughter would think if she saw a post with bigotry baked into it. I respond in a way that shows that I can see the bigotry, and try to present a different message.

“I also enjoy a privilege that LGBT people don’t share. I can walk away from the conflict and it disappears, because I am straight... Since I have that advantage of coming to the fight well-rested, it is easier for me not to get worn out by it.”

A lifelong Star Wars fan, Bert and his daughter have always shared nerdy stuff, from Stars War and Star Trek to Battlestar Galactica. When the homophobia of the town in which they lived began negatively affecting his daughter, Bert began to become more aware of the harmful messages that are present in media:

“It took time for her to educate me, but I began to be able to detect representation and the messaging in media. Among many of the things I learned that had harmed her and would continue to do, is invisibility. She suffered because no one could see her. Why did she feel she had to be invisible?”

Last year, Star Trek Beyond made headlines and Trek history by revealing Sulu to be gay and happily married with a husband and a daughter. Bert reflected on what it was like for her to see that representation on screen:

“When she saw Sulu, his spouse, and little family, she just broke down crying. She was happy, in a way that had been denied her for so long.

“Just like Star Wars, I had been showing her Star Trek since she was little. In many ways, that show helped me teach her about the human condition, about right and wrong, about justice. The members of the Crew have a sense of belonging, are there for each other, and are symbols of what good humans can be. It was huge for her to see a member of that team lose his invisibility and be one of the crew. She could see that it was possible people other than just her parents to love and accept her."

Like many others, Bert sees the character of Poe Dameron as an excellent character with which to begin representing the LGBT community on screen. He’s heroic, charming, and overall a good person; to have him be the first major gay protagonist in a Star Wars film would provide positive representation for young kids watching.

"At its heart, I think Star Wars is about heroic journeys, about love and how to fight for it, and how to make sacrifices for it. If I had my dream, we would get a gay main character who could embody a hero who loves and fights and sacrifices for his friends."

At the end of our interview, Bert said, “I can only imagine the impact of seeing the removal of LGBT invisibility in Star Wars would mean for so many young people.” His words speak to a very important issue: that of representation. Studies have shown the positive effects of good representation: how it can enhance empathy, how it can help undo stereotypes, and how it might even save lives. 

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Positive Movements Forward

Star Wars A New Hope Luke Skywalker watching the suns set

Fandom, once primarily the domain of LiveJournal, is now mostly split onto two social media sites. Of the two, Tumblr is more infamous for being a den of shippers, haters, and everything in between. The other site, Twitter, has a more laidback atmosphere, and it is here that the #GayTheFourth organizers have gathered.

#GayTheFourth is the name of an event scheduled for May 4th, otherwise known as Star Wars Day. The hashtag and event will be used to promote a sense of community among LGBT fans, as well as to ask for better representation in the films, books and television shows. This doesn’t stop at a single gay character; these fans are hoping for both gender and sexual diversity. One #GayTheFourth organizer, Yavin, has been a lifelong Star Wars fan, but only recently noticed the lack of LGBT representation in the films:

“When The Force Awakens came out, I reexamined the saga as a whole--which for me was just the films, since I wasn't that aware of the [Expanded Universe] or anything--and saw how straight everything was.”

Yavin’s take on the need for LGBT representation in the saga is tied to how widely beloved the franchise is:

“Star Wars is maybe the most iconic piece of popular culture in our current time, if not in the top three--and in that respect, it's for everyone. When I was at Star Wars Celebration a few weeks ago, I saw people of all ages, infants to people my grandparents' age, Americans to Europeans to a guy who flew all the way from Borneo. Being represented in media, especially in media with this kind of cultural staying power, tells people of that identity that they matter enough for their stories to be told and for them to have that spotlight.

"With the specific challenges the LGBT community faces, positive representation in media can change perceptions of those who may hold prejudiced views or not understand--and more importantly, it tells those people who may be struggling with their own identity that it's not anything wrong with them. They can still blow up the Death Star and be gay or bi or trans. They can be any of those things and still have inherent value as a person. When you pretend someone doesn't exist it sends the complete opposite message.”

Emi, another organizer, voiced similar thoughts:

“Star Wars specifically is such a huge part of worldwide pop culture. Even if an entire country bans a film, people will find a way to watch it. because it's Star Wars! And because it has that huge cultural impact, there's an obligation to make sure you're telling a story that does some good.”

These fans have all found a community in this corner of Twitter’s fandom world. This small segment of fans, who affectionately refer to themselves as “Gay Star Wars Twitter,” are passionate Star Wars fans like any other. They count down to the releases of books and Star Wars Rebels season 4. They theorize and bicker fondly over the latest fake leaks. Yet they are all brought together by the fact that they are not straight, and that LGBT representation matters to them. “I really love the LGBT Star Wars community because it feels like a family," Emi explained. "We've carved out our own little niche in this huge fictional universe.” 

Already, #GayTheFourth has been met with some backlash from fans who loudly proclaim that gay characters being included is “propaganda,” or that sexuality has no place in the Star Wars universe, which is ironic given that each trilogy so far has featured a prominent love story. If that isn’t sexuality, then what is? And more importantly, why would a similarly chaste love story between two characters of the same gender be more sexual than the average heterosexual love story?

This kind of homophobia is tiring. “It is exhausting. it's exhausting dealing with it in day-to-day life, and then to find it within a community of people who all love a thing i love is even more disheartening,” Yavin said. "It's almost as if these fans and I watched entirely different films.”

Aftermath author Chuck Wendig voiced a similar thought when responding to critics of the gay protagonist in his trilogy. “You’re not the good guys. You’re the f-----g Empire, man. You’re the s----y, oppressive, totalitarian Empire,” he wrote on his blog. “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.” Mark Hamill himself has even encouraged fans to read Luke as gay, explaining, "I'd say it is meant to be interpreted by the viewer... If you think Luke is gay, of course he is."

The #GayTheFourth movement is not necessarily a movement that is loudly demanding that it’s voice be heard. Rather, it is a persistent attempt at gaining the attention of Lucasfilm executives to let them know that there are fans out there that long to see themselves represented on the big screen. It is also a celebration of a group of fans who have felt shut out from the fandom at large. “For me, personally, the goal isn't to force Lucasfilm to include anything, but rather to let them know that there's a huge audience willing to embrace whatever creative decisions they make,” Emi said. “They shouldn't be afraid to be bold and progressive because there are so many people out there who would love to see it.

Yavin added:

“I would also hope that the creatives and executives in charge of the direction these stories go see that we're here and we love Star Wars just as much as straight fans. So often the bottom line comes down to money--if we do this, it might be the right thing to do, but will it cost us money? Will people see a Star Wars film if it's not 100% straight? Being loud enough to catch their attention and sit them down and say, yes, we will still see it. We, as a group, may see it more than we already planned on seeing it, which was already a lot... But also I want to emphasize to those powers that be at Lucasfilm that they have an enormous amount of power to do good given the franchise that they run. The ball is in their court because we keep passing it to them--we just want them to catch it."

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Conclusion

Star Wars 7 Force Awakens Preview

Does this come down to money? Would Lucasfilm make more by completely ignoring the LGBT community, or would the benefits outweigh the potential controversy. We cannot know for certain, but one thing that we can know is that Star Wars is the biggest franchise on the planet. If any franchise is going to break new ground for Disney, Star Wars is the one to do it - simply because it's too big to fail.

There are moral arguments to be made about why representation is important, yet these have been covered before in countless articles. Instead, let’s examine the question that crops up so often in discussions of LGBT inclusion: why is this necessary? To which the best counter answer is: why is it not necessary?

The Star Wars galaxy is a vast, unexplored place. There are characters and aliens out there who the audience has not been introduced to yet. The likelihood of them all being straight and cisgender is as unlikely as Anakin having the high ground in a duel with Obi-Wan. In fact, it would be strange to not introduce LGBT representation, especially given the diversity of characters Lucasfilm is already planning to introduce.

This is not a condemnation or an admonishment. Lucasfilm is two films into what can be termed the Star Wars Renaissance. The Aftermath trilogy sets a wonderful precedent in terms of how LGBT characters will be treated, and it's easy to have faith that Lucasfilm will step up to the plate and deliver diverse and strong LGBT representation by the time the sequel trilogy comes to an end in 2019. It could be Poe Dameron, Finn, or another character we’ve yet to meet. But the representation will happen.

What is important is to remember that fans want this. Moreover, there's reason the believe that general audiences want this as well - even beyond the anecdotal evidence of Beauty and the Beast's unhampered success. A 2015 study by the Ralph J. Bunche Center at UCLA found that greater racial diversity in movies correlated with higher returns at the box office, so it's not hard to believe that greater diversity in other areas might similarly be a boon.

Gay— Carrie Fisher (@carrieffisher) September 20, 2009

Star Wars is a groundbreaking franchise, one that has transcended being a movie to become, in the words of director JJ Abrams, a religion. It can break even more ground with positive LGBT representation, and continue to inspire and uplift fans and audiences around the globe. The ball is in Lucasfilm’s court. What remains to be seen is what they will do with it.

Next: Star Wars: Why Yoda Was Wrong & Luke Was Right

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