Featured Posts

Licence To Queer
On Our Minds Only? Bond fans talk mental health
On Our Minds Only? Bond fans talk mental health

Mental health is not discussed enough, despite it being an important element of the 007 stories. In this series, David talks very openly about mental health with members of the Bond community. He has a theory: these are the sorts of things on many of our minds but we often struggle to put them into words. Maybe our mutual passion for James Bond can help us can change that?

The best Bond score of all
The best Bond score of all

Hear my love letter to the music of Casino Royale on the latest episode of The Scores Are Not Enough.

The Other Fellas
The Other Fellas

First we watched all of Roger’s Bond films in one epic 17 hour marathon. Then we binged on Brosnan. Most recently, we devoted an entire day to Daniel Craig. Across these three events, Licence to Queer readers raised more than £7000 for UNICEF and Papyrus - Prevention of Young Suicide. For this year’s fundraiser, in aid of Prostate Cancer UK, it’s the turn of The Other Fellas.

“What’s keeping you awake?” James Bond’s battles with sleep
“What’s keeping you awake?” James Bond’s battles with sleep

What if we reframed the whole of the Bond franchise as the story of a man just trying to get a good night’s rest? Lifelong insomniac David Lowbridge-Ellis gets under the covers with 007 to explore when he sleeps, if he’s really the early riser he claims to be and why we should be concerned about his dreams.

Licence To Queer covers queer aspects of Bond books, video games and more. Search here for your favourite titles and characters or find content related to particular queer identities (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, etc).

David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

Queer re-view: Dr. No

You would think that a film which opens with three men pretending to be blind would alert us to the need to look at things differently. But six decades of straight-washing has obscured quite how queer Bond’s beginnings were - and still are to this day. It’s high time we took the blinkers off: Bond was born this way.

Read More
David Lowbridge-Ellis David Lowbridge-Ellis

James Bond: Muscle Mary

The lines between ‘gay’ and ‘straight’ fashion are more blurred than ever, in part thanks to James Bond. Nevertheless, stereotypical assumptions about the clothing we choose to wear still persist. Craig’s Bond carries off a classic ‘gay look’ down to a (very tightly fitted) tee.

Read More