George R. R. Martin's Poor Excuse for LGBT Erasure in A Song of Ice and Fire

At the Edinburgh International Book Festival, George R R Martin, author of the Song of Ice and Fire Series (Game of Thrones) was asked about the lack of gay characters and intimate gay scenes in his books. This is his response:

He said the books are narrated through his "viewpoint" characters, so he was more limited than the TV shows. "Frankly, it is the way I prefer to write fiction because that is the way all of us experience life. You're seeing me from your viewpoint, you're not seeing what someone over here is seeing.

Because none of the viewpoint characters are gay, there are no explicit gay sex scenes in the early books. "A television show doesn't have those limitations," he said. "Will that change? It might. I've had letters from fans who want me to present particularly an explicit male sex scene – most of the letters come from women."

But he added: "I'm not going to do it just for the sake of doing it. If the plot lends itself to that, if one of my viewpoint characters is in a situation, then I'm not going to shy away from it, but you can't just insert things because everyone wants to see them.

"It is not a democracy. If it was a democracy, then Joffrey [the sadistic boy king] would have died much earlier than he did."

There’s a lot to unpack here - and it’s a whole lot of wrong

When we write fiction, we create a brand new world. The operative phrase in the previous sentence is “we create”.  A Song of Ice and Fire is most certainly an epic and unique world but it is a world created specifically by George R.R. Martin and as such, Martin is ultimately responsible for everything the characters say and do and for the world itself. To then suggest that explicit same sex scenes cannot happen because all of the characters are straight, ignores the fact that Martin created an all straight universe, thus  making the possibility of same sex interaction impossible in the first place. Martin is right, what he chooses to place on the page is not a democracy and thus he is solely responsible and is therefore open for critique. He can write whatever he wants - and what he wants is nothing but straight people and we can criticise him for that.

What is further disturbing is that Martin then goes on to add: 

"I'm not going to do it just for the sake of doing it. If the plot lends itself to that, if one of my viewpoint characters is in a situation, then I'm not going to shy away from it, but you can't just insert things because everyone wants to see them.”  

Since this series is from the beginning a creation of one person the plot was always malleable and the only limitations in actual existence were, and in fact are, the limitations of its creator.

Further, Martin suggests that this kind of inclusion boils down to fan service and given his tumultuous relationship with his fans, it would on first appearance justify his response. The problem is that we aren’t just talking about whether or not Joffrey should live or die but the inclusion of marginalised characters. This isn’t about throwing meat at overly demanding slashers but inclusion of a group of people who society actively oppresses, erases and frames as having a deviant sexuality. The more GLBT people are represented in the mainstream media alongside straight, cisgender people, the more we affirm that there is nothing inherently problematic or morally wrong about being a member of the alphabet soup.

This is why inclusion is so important and not something to be reduced to overly demanding fans, once again making unreasonable requests of George R.R. Martin, in attempt to reduce him to their “bitch” as it were. Including GLBT people is an imperative and moral good given the heterosexist society we live in. Sure, inclusion alone won’t change the bigotry of many, or the laws of the state but good inclusion (note: operative word here is “good.”), will have tangible social effects. At the very least, it could be one of the few series in which a young person could see themselves represented in a world which tells said person that they should not exist. Given the high rate of substance abuse, suicide and bullying, every social action which upholds and asserts the humanity of the TLBG community is important.

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin Book 2 in A Song of Ice and Fire

This series continues to be extremely epic but I shall do my best to recap it and share my thoughts.  The seven kingdoms are at war with Stannis Baratheon and his younger brother Renly Baratheon, both declaring themselves King.  Stannis as the older brother has the stronger claim but Renly as the love of men and a large force to support him.  Their push for the Iron Throne, is based in the fact Joffrey Baratheon is not their brother Robert's son, but in fact the product of an incestuous affair between Queen Cersei and her brother Jamie (the kingslayer) Lannister.  If that were not enough to cause strife in a kingdom, Robb Stark has declared himself the king of the north and not to be undone, Balon Greyjoy has declared himself King of the Iron Islands and is intent on taking control of the north as well. While these men squabble for power, a threat is quickly building north of the wall and  Daenerys Targaryen is determined to recapture the what she deems her rightful throne, with the aid of her three living dragons.

There are a lot of characters in this story and it can be easy to get lost in the relationships of the minor characters.  There is an appendix at the end of the story; however, that may not be convenient for those who are reading a digital copy of  A Clash of Kings.  The main characters are very well developed and the book adds an intense layer of characterisation that is actually lost in the series The Game of Thrones. The internal dialogue really helped establish the motivations behind the actions of the actions of the characters.  For instance, Theon Greyjoy while still a disgusting sexist pig, is a far more sympathetic character than in the television series.  The fact that he was fostered against his will at Winterfell and then derided for this when he returned to Pyke by both his father and his sister, played a huge factor in his decision. Theon found that he didn't really belong anywhere because despite being raised alongside Ned's sons, he was most certainly not a Stark, and having been gone from the iron islands for so many years, he had been supplanted and in many ways forgotten.  In the end Theon just wants somewhere that he can belong and to prove his worth as a man and a soldier.


I don't think that any amount of characterisation could make Daenerys Targaryen more palatable. I understand that she feels a birth right to the Westeros; however, she comes across as self absorbed and petulant a great deal of the time.  Daenerys says repeatedly that she knows that the people of the seven kingdoms will not immediately swear fealty to her, she counteracts this statement repeatedly by asserting that her presence will inspire love. 

With he exception of Daenerys, I largely enjoyed all of the female characters in this story, though they all seemed to have been touched by sadness in someways. The night that Stannis decide to invade Kings Landing, Cersei has a conversation with Sansa about what it means to be a woman.  She is all to aware that from birth, her twin Jamie was destined for greatness, while she was destined to be married to a stranger and bare children. Cersei finds comfort in her children and I do believe that fact that all of them are the product of incest rather than her marriage with Robert, speaks loudly about the way she has strived to thwart gender expectation.  In the end, Cersei knows that a woman has a certain amount of power in terms of her body and gender but all of this pales in comparison to the power of the sword.