BOND, QUEER BOND – THE FABULOUS OTHER HISTORY OF A SPY
‘One white dot made up of all the colours of the rainbow and then another shimmy across a black background, vying for consequence as they vanish screen-right…’
Welcome to Bond, Queer Bond – the original, intriguing and illuminating story of the queer talents, creatives, politics, beats and personalities that have fantastically shaped the James Bond phenomenon in all its forms.
Blending historical insight with new explorations, interviews, and observations, Bond, Queer Bond – The Fabulous Other History of a Spy sees writer, author and Bond scholar Mark O’Connell examine the fascinating gay forces behind the openly straight 007.
At a time when fierce debate rages about identity politics versus cultural visibility, what if the world of Bond and its diverse myriad of creators, artists and influences were already a fierce bastion of gay creativity, opinion, and artistry?
From the vibrant Bond lyricist who created a musical genre, the hellraising artist who first branded the literary Bond, the 1960s film editor who gave 007 his momentum, the quiet musician who became a gay icon in a camp glory of a Bond movie, how pop art icons influenced Bond, the vital advocacy of a publishing editor, how the AIDS crisis saw the Bond project step up before any government did, the drag and gay clubland celebration of 007, the fashion houses and queer world influences that dress Bond, gay laws and equalities, very real closeted Cold War espionage, the gay adult movies that stole from Bond and the queer filmmakers who celebrated him whilst vitally chronicling themselves, America’s influential ballroom scene, why Oscar Wilde was instrumental, and how author Ian Fleming was ahead of the culture-war curve.
In Bond, Queer Bond what might begin as a thoughtful new glittery dive into an adjacent world of 007 fast becomes a rich, colourful, compelling, and fun manifesto about the queer DNA of a cultural icon. LGBTQ names and beats such as Harvey Milk, Truman Capote, Grace Jones, Francis Bacon, Judy Garland, Divine, Cecil Beaton, Studio 54, Sylvester, Danny La Rue, Tom of Finland, Noel Coward, Doris Fish, Tom Ford, Robert Mapplethorpe, Madonna, John Sex, Guy Burgess, Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli, The Wolfenden Report, the AIDS crisis, RuPaul, Keith Haring and many more form the chronicle and rainbow crosshairs of this book.
And joining O’Connell to tell this fabulous other history of a spy are guest contributions and brilliant new insight from the likes of Barbara Broccoli, David Arnold, Mark Gatiss, David Walliams, Putter Smith, Peaches Christ, John Glen, Ann Magnuson, Jon Lys Turner, Miss X, Timmy Spence, Jany Temime, Maud Adams, Daniel Nicoletta, Jason Rail, Michael Varrati, key Bond and queer alumni, and many more.
Bond, Queer Bond – The Fabulous Other History of a Spy is not just the fascinating story about how LGBTQ creativity, temperaments, battles, and voices stretched into Bond from the gay map pins of San Francisco, London, New York, Paris, and beyond. It is also a rich chronicle of rainbow artistry, fortitude and visibility featuring Commander Bond alongside some of the most iconic names, influential trailblazers and pivotal beats of all LGBTQ history.
Author Mark O’Connell / Photo by Christian Couzens
He is a frequent voice across all BBC platforms, news studios and channels, Sky, The Times, Sunday Times, Esquire, The Guardian, Daily Express, and all global news and cultural outlets. More recently he was Consultant Producer on the acclaimed James Bond documentary, The Other Fellow (2023).
