Best Science Fiction Books with Gay Main Characters
Science fiction books featuring gay or bisexual main characters. Other "alternative" forms of sexuality are accepted, too.
Note: please add/vote books with male/androgynous main characters only
Note: please add/vote books with male/androgynous main characters only
Nemesis
5023 books
92 friends
92 friends
heardtheowl
597 books
78 friends
78 friends
Rebecca
765 books
3 friends
3 friends
Rosie
1614 books
11 friends
11 friends
Banjomike
905 books
0 friends
0 friends
mariam
130 books
5 friends
5 friends
LaPat
497 books
455 friends
455 friends
Sydney
174 books
1 friend
1 friend
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Comments Showing 1-27 of 27 (27 new)
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Marianne
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Jan 22, 2011 01:16PM

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David

I bet it has to do with Baron Harkonnen.

I totally disagree with Dune on the list though. I've always seen the Baron as a pedophile rather than a gay character. And I wouldn't call him a protagonist...

I have an issue with The Last Pure Human being on this list. It may have started out as science fiction at the beginning, now, however, it has degenerated to just PWP - porn without plot.


From Dune: "I'll be in my sleeping chambers," the Baron said. "Bring me that young fellow we bought on Gamont, the one with the lovely eyes. Drug him well. I don't feel like wrestling."
There are very few redeeming qualities about the Baron, he's out to grab all the power he can and has no qualms about how he achieves his goals. Yes, he's homosexual, but as written in the original text (ignoring the Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson versions), the Baron doesn't qualify as anything but a nasty, dirty old man who, if he thought he could get away with it and survive, would have raped his own grandson (Paul) just because he was "pretty".

The list calls for Sci-fi books with gay characters and by that spec alone, Dune belongs here no matter what we feel about the author or a character.
Kaitlyn wrote: "... Can't we have a story with gay main characters that isn't JUST about the sexual aspect of it?"
I feel the same way, Kaitlyn. It's a philosophy I bring to my writing. I write stories about characters' whole lives, not just their sex lives. I expect the draw of my stories to be a spirit of adventure and philosophical depth, not a cover filled with abdominal muscles.
But also, it appears that in the three years since your post, this list hass been filled out with many titles that do not engage in sex-appeal cover tactics. That's heartening. We're beginning to explore gay characters' whole lives, not just their sex lives.
I feel the same way, Kaitlyn. It's a philosophy I bring to my writing. I write stories about characters' whole lives, not just their sex lives. I expect the draw of my stories to be a spirit of adventure and philosophical depth, not a cover filled with abdominal muscles.
But also, it appears that in the three years since your post, this list hass been filled out with many titles that do not engage in sex-appeal cover tactics. That's heartening. We're beginning to explore gay characters' whole lives, not just their sex lives.


Ethan of Athos barely touches on the sexual aspects, it's more of interest for the cultural aspects and the adventure Ethan has when exposed to the world outside Athos, and meeting women for the first time.

Which makes it an interesting book, especially from Ethan's point of view. Not every book needs sex in it to be valid.


Actually the main character is bisexual which qualifies if the rest of these books are anything to go by. The whole thing is about free love and being able to love and have sex with whomever you want. It was my favorite book for many years as a kid. I read it when I was 11 and it was the book that made me realize I was bi, too. I came out after I read it. Of course, my mother just thought it was me being dramatic so she was quite shocked when I finally started dating women, too.
Although as an adult I can see Heinlein's politics in his work, and that his views on women and gay people were stuck back in time and never grew so it became clear he was horribly sexist in particular. Stranger in a Strange land really opened my eyes and allowed me to be true to myself much earlier in life than a lot of other LGBTQ people. Looking back on it now, yes it's homophobic, but in the era in which it was written, it was quite forward thinking for a mainstream book. He wasn't Delaney or Sturgeon, but the book definitely pushed boundaries at the time.

I've no clue why it's in this list.

I've no clue why it's in this list."
Because of Baron Harkonen - who isn't gay so much as a pedophile (a distasteful implication that's so old fashioned ... blergh).

Everything about his sexual expression is a litany of non-con including drugging his victims so they don't resist or make unpleasant noises.
I think it's a stretch of any psychology to label him as gay.
Then there's the factor of this list "Best Science Fiction Books with Gay Main Characters" and while the Baron is a character in the book I don't think he fits the list descriptor.

I quite agree. Others seem to think otherwise. :\

This is also the trick used in MM romance, where I know for sure that story development doesn't matter as much as it does in gay literary fiction. MM romance is where you will find the half naked covers and unrealistic depictions of gay relationships. Thankfully not all books on this list are the same.
But I try so hard not to judge a book by its cover! Lol

Are you thinking about the main female character? Because the main male character, as I recall, has an "instinctive aversion"--or words to that effect--to m/m sex, even as he preaches the wonders of f/m and f/f sex.
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Anyone can add books to this list.