The ninth instalment of the Star Wars franchise has finally given fans gay representation- in a way.
LGBT representation within the Star Wars franchise has been a fiercely discussed topic over recent years, particularly with the release of each new film.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi might not have fulfilled fans’ wishes of a romance between Finn and Poe, however the new film did give fans a very subtle bit of representation.
One eagle-eyed viewer spotted two of the newest creatures in the Star Wars universe snuggling up in the background.
Known as ‘porgs,’ two of the bird-like creatures with bright orange feathers can be seen cuddling affectionately in the back of the shot.
(Photo: @ikolism / Twitter)
As the orange plumage shows that they are both male porgs, Twitter user @ikolism, declared them to be “gay porgs, folks.”
As the tweet began to spread across the site, some people claimed that this moment was unintentional, or that all porgs had the orange feathers.
However, it appears that in the film and other Star Wars media such as the official mobile app, there are female porgs who do not have this plumage.
(Photo: @ikolism / Twitter)
Twitter user @ikolism used this to confirm the intentional existence of the gay porgs, saying: “they knew what they were doing.”
The bird-like creatures were originally introduced to The Last Jedi due to a very large population of puffins on the film set, which is also a bird nature reserve.
According to NME, it was easier for the special effects team of The Last Jedi to alter the puffins into porgs rather than attempt to remove them all.
A porg on a billboard Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
In an interview last year, Oscar Issac addressed the impact of actual LGBT representation and said that he’s open to playing a gay character, but there won’t be one in Star Wars yet.
Issac, who plays Poe Dameron, said: “Well what it means to me is that people can see themselves in a hero like this, in a movie like this, which I love.
“Not only LGBT [fans] but Latinos… there’s a representation out there for that.”
John Boyega, who plays Finn, said that the issue of LGBT representation should be addressed on-screen.
(Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Disney )
Speaking to Metro last October, he said: “I think that Oscar is always looking at me with love in his eyes, and I guess that the fans saw it. And then they realised that either he needs to chill or come out.”
Of the need for LGBT diversity, he added cryptically: “There definitely is that responsibility, but more the responsibility to hire those from those experiences to share their creative light, that’s the pivotal thing.
“If you hire the same sort of people you’re just getting the same sort of film. It’s not wrong, but then there’s a lack of variety.”
Related: Star Wars’ Daisy Ridley and Kelly Marie Tran want a gay Finn/Poe romance
One person who certainly won’t be celebrating the hint of LGBT representation is radio host Alex Jones.
The Infowars host lashed out against The Last Jedi, calling it ‘total SJW.’
According to the conspiracy-minded radio host, General Hux is apparently supposed to look like Eric Trump, leading us to associate the President with the evil First Order.
Jones then grossly overestimated the amount of LGBT representation in the Star Wars franchise, saying that all the women in the films are lesbians.
“Every movie the women are the bosses, the women are the heroes, they’re all lesbians,” he said.
We wish.
