OUT Magazine Totally Gaywashed Luke Skywalker! Why?

When a fan tweeted Mark Hamill the other day asking if Luke Skywalker was bisexual, the actor replied with a sensitive and thoughtful answer. "His sexuality is never directly addressed in the films", Hamill tweeted. "Luke is whatever the audience wants him to be, so you can decide for yourself."

He has a point. It makes sense that since bi people are capable of being attracted to both sexes, you can't always tell who is bi just from their relationship history. It's about potential attraction.

Since the films didn't explicitly say Luke was straight, it's possible that he was bi. Attraction to Leia (a woman) doesn't automatically rule out the possibility that Luke could also be attracted to some men. So, it's best not to assume. Luke could very well be bisexual.

But, why did Out Magazine then post a blog about the Twitter exchange with the totally gaywashing (and misleading) headline "Could Luke Skywalker Be Gay?".

Gay? That's not what the tweet asked! The fan specifically asked, "if Luke was bisexual". And since Luke apparently did have an attraction to women it seems more likely that he would be bi than gay, right?

So, what's that weird headline asking if he's "gay" all about? It's about erasing bisexuality. That's what it's about.

It's sad, but true. Bisexuality is often erased in just this way. Some people (even some gay people) have a hard time wrapping their minds around the fact that bi people exist, so they do bizarre mental gymnastics to interpret everything that isn't 100% straight as automatically gay.

"That guy kissed another dude?! He must be GAY!" Never mind the guy's epic history of dating girls. "It's a one way street to gay town", they claim. Silly, right? It would be funny if it wasn't so damn annoying.

Mark Hamill gave a beautiful reply to his fan on Twitter, only to have certain writers in the media totally gaywash the conversation. The whole point of the actor's thoughtful answer is that we have no real way of knowing what Luke Skywalker's actual sexuality is. But, apparently, according to Out Magazine, just asking the question "could Luke be bisexual" automatically means he's gay.

No wonder so many bi guys are reluctant to come out.

I know, it's only Star Wars. But come on, Out Magazine! Way to make a cute story into something weirdly pernicious. Not every guy who is attracted to other guys is gay. Some of us are bi. *shakes head*