The Star Wars galaxy is set to get its first gay hero, only months after a lesbian character was also introduced.
In new volume, Star Wars: The Aftermath, Imperial traitor Sinjir Rath Velus is set to be introduced.
Velus will be a gay character, who sides with rebels after seeing the battle of Endor and turning his back on the empire.
There has already been a lesbian character in the Lords of the Sith novel – Imperial officer Moff Delian Mors – who was written into the story by Paul S. Kemp, and now the LGBT universe in Star Wars is being expanded further.
Author of Star Wars: The Aftermath, Chuck Wendig claimed that Lucasfilm had been gracious and accommodating in terms of the new character.
He added:
I think fiction has sort of a value and an opportunity to speak to audiences beyond both the author and beyond what you “expect” that audience to be.
And it allows people to see themselves in stories where, before, they hadn’t.
I don’t think it’s necessarily the responsibility of storytellers to do that, because everybody’s free to tell the stories they want to tell, but I think there is a value and opportunity in doing so.
There will be two further novels written by Wendig as part of The Journey to the Force Awakens series, with the increased focus on including LGBT characters universally praised.
