Leslye Headland Doesn’t Believe that ‘The Acolyte’ is Queer: “I don’t know what the term ‘gay’ means in that sense”

‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’ is the most recent installment in the franchise. The show generated quite a bit of stir even before release when Leslye Headland, the creator of the show claimed that it’s the “gayest” Star Wars installment yet.

Now since the show is generating a negative response, Headland says that her show is being read in unintended ways, but she is still happy to inspire the LGBT community.

In her recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Headland said that her show is not Queer with a capital Q, and she doesn’t even know what gay would mean in that context.

“I was surprised by the question. Amandla and I just burst out laughing because that’s our knee-jerk reaction to being asked that, but to be honest, I don’t know what the term ‘gay’ means in that sense. I don’t believe that I’ve created queer, with a capital Q, content.”

When fans claim that ‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’ is gay, they probably refer to Headland’s past interviews and several instances of representation in the show. For example, Mother Aniseya and Mother Korin, the alleged mothers of twins Osha and Mae are clearly in a romantic relationship.

Daphne Keen, the actress who portrays Jecki Lon in the show also confirmed that her character has a crush on Osha, and there was an instance of “pronoun-dropping” when Osha asks whether Bazil is “he or they” which one of the show’s writers explained later was a joke, implying the ridiculousness of the situation that you are concerned about humanoid rodent’s gender expression.

While I have to agree that the show is not “gay” since that obviously is not a central theme of it, I can also easily see how fans took an insult to her previous statements and now see every little detail as “propaganda” being shoehorned in.

What do you think? Is ‘The Acolyte’ gay? Let us know in the comments below!