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The Top 11 Lesbian/Bi Moments in Sci Fi and Fantasy

At first glance, science fiction and fantasy can look like a straights-only city, populated by Luke Skywalkers, Frodos and the occasional buxom nd rabidly heterosexual female. Appearances, though, are deceiving.

Beginning in the ’70s in books, the ’80s in movies and the ’90s on TV, lesbian and bisexual characters and delightfully queer moments have appeared with increasing frequency.

Book publishers were the first to forge shamelessly forward. Pioneered by The Female Man by Joanna Russ (1975) and The Wanderground by Sally Miller Gearhart (1978), lesbian/bi genre fiction first rode into publication on a wave of feminism. Today, mainstream genre publishers such as Tor and independents including Aqueduct Press and Small Beer Press continue to produce works where lesbians and bisexual women take the lead.

TV and movie producers have taken a bit longer to get bold. Today, many still suffer from a case of nerves. With some notable exceptions, they continue to take refuge in subtext, playing silly games to hide what’s really going on.

Even with that stumbling block, lesbian fun can still be found on-screen. More seriously, some of the most subtextual moments are as emotionally intimate as the best moments in real life.

Drawing on a lifetime of love for science fiction and fantasy, I’ve come up with a list of the top lesbian/bi moments in the genre. Like all “best of” lists, this one is thoroughly subjective, but then again, its real purpose is to start debate, not end it. Take a look. Tell me what I’ve missed or misunderstood.

Bonus Trivia Moment: Which

writer had a hand in creating three of these moments? Which two creators are real-life spouses? The answers are at the end.

11. Ripley and Call Get Acquainted Alien: Resurrection (1997)

When the resurrected Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) meets Annalee Call (Winona Ryder) in the movie Alien: Resurrection, Ripley brings new meaning to the phrase “getting to know you.” Now half-alien, Ripley is a clone of the character who first appeared in the 1979 movie Alien.

In this riveting moment, a feral Ripley caresses Call and rubs her cheek slowly over Call’s face. This is subtext at the sub-basement level, but there is no denying the connection between Ripley and Call. One other nice bit comes at the end of this uneven movie. With no logical reason to help anyone but herself, Ripley appoints herself Call’s protector. Ripley shields the younger soul from the explosive decompression that sucks the air and the last alien out of a spaceship compartment. Ripley and Call survive to land on Earth, leaving us to daydream about their future adventures together.

10. Talia and Ivanova Share and Share Babylon 5 (1995)

During the run of the syndicated science fiction series Babylon 5, TV was still struggling to climb out of the pit of sub-subtext. We moved forward just a tiny bit, though, with the portrayal of telepath Talia Winters (Andrea Thompson) and space station executive officer Susan Ivanova (Claudia Christian). When they first meet, their relationship is rocky. Over time, friendship blooms. In the Season 2 episode “Divided Loyalties,” a maintenance problem forces Talia out of her quarters. For some reason, the city-sized station only offers one place for Talia to sleep over: Ivanova’s room.

We get close conversations, delicious scenes of domesticity, shower-wet hair and my favorite: The morning Talia wakes, rolls over and stretches out her arm as if to cuddle, only to discover that the bed next to her is empty. She looks around, searching for her missing bedmate.

Unfortunately, when a personality programmed into Talia against her will is activated, the telepath turns traitor, breaks off all her old relationships and leaves the station. But the nature of the bond between the two women is later winked at when Ivanova confesses to a friend: “I think I loved Talia.”

9. Number Three, Number Six and Baltar Commune Battlestar Galactica (2006)

The bed is huge, the sheets are rumpled and it’s obvious that more than sleeping has been going on when humanoid Cylons Number Three (Lucy Lawless) and Number Six (Tricia Helfer) wake up with human Gaius Baltar (James Callis). The Season 3 episode is called “Hero.” In case anyone didn’t catch the true nature of their relationship, all becomes clear when Number Three breaks it off in a later episode titled “The Eye of Jupiter.” In true lovers’ style, Number Three calls a halt to the relationship when Number Six gets jealous.

Number Six: I’d like to think that we three have shared something, transcended the barriers that separate people, and yet somehow, the more time goes on, the more I find myself on the outside looking in. Baltar: Well, that’s not the case at all, is it? Because, we three, we’re integral, we’re part of – Number Three: We’re finished.
Though the relationship was never fully explored in Season 3, it plays into the upcoming TV movie Battlestar Galactica: Razor, which airs Nov. 24, 2007 on Sci Fi. It appears that this seductive moment says more about Number Six than we’d previously realized.

8. Miriam and Sarah Swap More Than Kisses The Hunger (1983)

Although this film tackles the classic horror subject of vampires, The Hunger is actually science fiction, and no, I’m not kidding. Witness the film’s faux scientific explanation for what makes a vampire a vampire.

But today, there is only one reason why this muddled movie is remembered. Even straight reviewers like Roger Ebert took note of the scene. He called The Hunger “an agonizingly bad vampire movie, circling around an exquisitely effective sex scene.” When vampire Miriam Blaylock (Catherine Deneuve) entices scientist Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon), the moment is erotic, naturally. Believe it or not, though, I also like this scene because of its emotional reality. Any woman who has ever had to take a deep breath before plunging uncertainly into a kiss will recognize Sarah’s pauses, awkwardness and sheepish blushes.

Of course, there’s much more worth watching. Wine is spilled, shirts must be taken off, beds must be discovered, and, well, much more happens than can be summarized in one sentence. I suggest getting the film and fast forwarding until you see Sarandon show up at Deneuve’s front door. Ignore the rest.

7. Dax and Lenara Defy Taboos Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995)

In the same year that Talia and Ivanova didn’t dare share a peck on the cheek, Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) and Lenara Kahn (Susanna Thompson) defied all sorts of taboos.

Members of the alien Trill, they have been reborn lifetime after lifetime with the help of symbionts who retain memories of their past lives. In one of those lives, Dax was male, Lenara was female, and they were happily married until Dax was killed.

In the Season 4 episode “Rejoined,” Lenara arrives on Deep Space Nine to carry out a scientific experiment. They haven’t seen each other since Dax died. Needless to say, unfinished emotional business is bubbling just below the surface.

The situation is complicated by the fact that Trill culture forbids people who shared a past lifetime to “rejoin.” The two face banishment if they can’t keep their hands off each other. Not surprisingly, frustration builds and discipline crumbles.

In the end, Lenara decides she can’t defy Trill society, and she leaves the station and a heartbroken Dax. For her part, Dax was ready to give up everything for the woman she loved.

6. Marghe Discovers Herself Ammonite (1992)

In Nicola Griffith’s novel Ammonite, Marghe Taishan comes to the planet GP (known as “Jeep”) to work as an anthropologist. She stays to find herself – a task she completes in every way possible.

Jeep itself is a mystery. Colonized centuries before by an expedition ravaged by disease, Jeep now hosts a thriving female-only population. Meanwhile, a recent corporate expedition has also been struck by the virus, which killed every man and many of the women. Marghe arrives to study the population and to test a vaccine. In the process, she travels across Jeep, puzzling out the women’s cultures and herself. Her journey climaxes in the far north as she meets Thenike, a traveler, healer and storyteller.

In this book, subtext is banished. When Marghe falls in love with Thenike, sexual orientation isn’t an issue.

The loneliness that can separate all of us falls away.

A morning came that filled their room with streaks of shadow and lemon sun, and birds sang, and women laughed outside their window, but the thing between them had pulled them close and all either heard was the sound of the other’s breath as it moved in the same rhythm as her own.
5. Inara and the Councilor Relax Firefly (2002)

In the short-lived TV series Firefly, Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin) is a companion – a courtesan whose occupation makes her a member of the aristocracy. Companions choose their own clients and are notoriously picky.

By the time the episode “War Stories” begins, Inara has only been seen with male clients, but then a new client arrives. The mysterious Councilor (Katherine Kendall) is tall, blond and female.

In the privacy of Inara’s shuttle, the Councilor tells Inara she just wants to relax and asks Inara not to pretend that she likes her or to put on a show. Inara replies that she usually sees men. When she chooses a woman, Inara adds, it is because the woman is extraordinary.

Inara: One cannot always be oneself in the company of men. Councilor: Never, actually. Inara: So no show; let’s just enjoy.
Also worth noting are the reactions of the ship’s crew to the Councilor’s unexpected arrival. They range from the stereotypical lecherousness of gunslinger Jayne to the surprise and delight of the ship’s preacher and the admiration of Kaylee, who calls the two women glamorous.

4. Jackal and Snow Reunite Solitaire (2002)

In the novel Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge, Jackal has been wrongly imprisoned in an experimental program that locks people into their own minds. Without even the companionship of a guard, Jackal survives for six years by rubbing out all memory of her life, including destroying her feelings for her lover, Snow. When Jackal is freed far from home, she hides from her family and friends. Snow tracks Jackal down, and the two meet unexpectedly on the street.

Jackal stood absolutely still, and she felt as if her head had become hollow in the immensity of the moment: wait, I’m not ready. But this was how it happened: the big things never announced themselves, you just turned a corner and there they were, before you’d had time to order your life to meet them. Choose right, she seemed to tell herself. And then in a heartbeat her choice was made, and it was like the old days: a path cleared in front of her, and she walked it straight into Snow’s arms.

It was like drawing a breath that came in and in and in, stretching her, filling her with Snow, etching Snow back into the space that Jackal had rubbed smooth. This is what she looks like: this is her smell; this is the feel of her shoulder blade under my right hand; this is how tight she holds me when she has no words, when the body must speak for itself. I remember it all.
3. Xena and Gabrielle Confess Xena: Warrior Princess (1999)

For the six years of Xena Warrior Princess, the connection between Xena and Gabrielle was kept as strict subtext, but oh my, what incredible not-so-subtle text it was. What drew me to the series, and what sets its subtext apart, is the intensity of the emotional connection between the two women. No scene is more emotionally intimate than the prison scene in the Season 4 episode “Ides of March.” Awaiting execution, Gabrielle cradles an injured and helpless Xena, and the two confess their regrets. To cite a cliche, the chemistry between the two actresses is electric.

Xena: I’m sorry for all the times I didn’t treat you right. Gabrielle: Xena – you’ve brought out the best in me. Before I met you, no one saw me for who I was. I felt invisible. But you saw all the things that I could be. You saved me, Xena.
Other great Xena and Gabrielle moments include the hot tub scene in “A Day in the Life,” the tango in “Heart of Darkness,” and the first meeting of Xena and Gabrielle in the alternate world of “When Fates Collide.” Also check out the last scene in “Many Happy Returns” when a blushing Xena watches Gabrielle read the poem Xena asked Sappho to write for her, uh, “friend.”

2. Willow and Tara Reconcile Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2002)

Before comments start flying, let me make one thing clear: I know I’m cheating. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is technically horror. Just this once, though, I’m going to stretch the definition of fantasy to include vampires and demons. We are talking reality-twisting media here. How could I possibly ignore Willow and Tara?

For me the best Willow and Tara moment is when they reconcile after a painful breakup. In the Season 6 episode “Entropy,” Tara shows up unexpectedly at Willow ‘s door.

Tara recites a grand speech about how she knows that it will take a long time for them to reconcile. She lists task after task that they have to complete, and then interrupts herself to ask: “Can we just skip that? Can you just be kissing me now?”

Willow smiles. You can guess the rest. If you are one of the few who doesn’t know about Tara ‘s fate, I would suggest that you turn off the next episode, “Seeing Red,” in the final act when Xander tracks down Buffy in her backyard. Everything about Willow and Tara is a joy to behold until that moment. The less said about what happens next, the better.

Other great Willow and Tara scenes include their first kiss in “The Body” and their floating-on-air dance at the end of “Family.” I’m also partial to some of the intensity between Willow and Kennedy, particularly in the Season 7 episode “The Killer in Me.”

1. Zanja Awakens Karis Fire Logic (2002)

Who hasn’t felt the earth move in that first explosive skin-to-skin meeting with a lover? For Zanja and Karis in Laurie J. Marks’ Fire Logic, the earth not only moves, it actually begins to heal, and I’m not talking about metaphor here. That’s why this scene tops my list of the best lesbian/bi moments in science fiction and fantasy.

Call me a romantic, but I think there is something deeply healing about true love between two women. Every human being struggles, everyone is lost at times, and each of us has issues, but love can help us explore and heal our wounds.

Marks presents these realities in all their complexity in the novel-length struggle of Zanja and Karis to love each other. Meanwhile, as an Earth witch and the rightful ruler of her country, only Karis has the power to save her people from destruction.

But Karis can’t use all of her power. The problem, among other things, is that she literally can’t feel physical sensation because she is a drug addict. When she finally is cured of that addiction, Karis still doesn’t know how to access her full power. Karis is helpless – that is, until Zanja breaks through: “She lifted a hand to Karis’ face and found her gasping with surprise, awash in astonished tears.” Marks has provided other great woman-to-woman moments in Earth Logic (2004) and Water Logic (2007) and Dancing Jack. (1993)

Other top print moments can be found in Motherlines by Suzy McKee Charnas (1978), Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudino (1990), The Kappa Child by Hiromi Goto (2001), Door Into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski, Trouble and Her Friends by Melissa Scott (1994) and Spin State by Chris Moriarty (2003).

Trivia Answers: Joss Whedon was the creator and executive producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly; he wrote Alien: Resurrection. Nicola Griffith and Kelley Eskridge are life partners.

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