LGBT Characters, 'Star Wars' Must Have

Recently Joshua Yehl, a friend of Christopher Andrew “Drew” Leinonen, one of the 49 people killed in the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, started an online petition urging that the makers of the Star Wars films use Leinonen, a devoted fan of the franchise, as the basis for the first LGBT Star Wars character. On the following pages we offer an introduction to Leinonen and look at existing Star Wars characters who could be revealed to be gay, along with gay characters from the books who could be brought to the screen.