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By StillSherlockMeta
 
If we start on the well accepted premise that lack of a statement on one’s sexual preference means that all people are straight until they proclaim otherwise, then we have in canon, and in the majority of pastiche, several statements that Holmes was not straight.
 
Holmes states repeatedly that he has abandoned the corporal for the cerebral, it’s a choice he is proud of and not a natural part of his sexuality, he never says that he has no interest in sex or romance, just that he chooses not to indulge. This has always ruled out the asexual reading to me, as it was clearly a choice.
 
He states he has never ‘loved’ in reference to a romantic heterosexual marriage being discussed; “I have never loved, Watson, but if I did and if the woman I loved had met such an end, I might act even as our lawless lion-hunter has done.” Plus we must examine the accepted myth and be aware that in canon the relationship with Irene Adler is purely work based and insignificant, apart from the fact Holmes admires her intelligence. Holmes even remarks that ‘the fairer sex’ is not his area with the statement about Watson: ‘Watson, the fair sex is YOUR department’. It’s a negative statement, in fact the subject is ‘the fair sex is NOT my department’ [We even receive a clarification, a modernisation, of this in the Angelo’s scene in ASiP when Sherlock states clearly ‘girlfriend? No, not really my area’] These statements in canon have ruled out the heterosexual Holmes for me, as he addresses the issue clearly.
 
Billy Wilder added the pinnacle of Holmes clear statements, albeit non-verbal in the most part, in the pastiche TPLoSH, when a naked Madame Valadon clings seductively to Holmes in his bedroom, offering herself to him, and Holmes rejects her, is not aroused by her and clearly is using the encounter to investigate a mark on her hand as a clue.
 
If we are waiting for a verbal pronouncement from Holmes that he is gay, well canon could not provide that to us due to the laws and social constraints at the time it was penned. Neither could most pastiche, as it was either prior to changes in laws on homosexuality or the Conan Doyle Estate had restrictions on the ‘image’ [their trademark of Holmes] Thus we must read and comprehend what Holmes did tell us about this area of his identity, but in a society that deems that being ‘presumed’ queer is an insult, then we have outrage when anyone is presumed queer without there being an official proclamation from the source. In canon, Holmes did not have any sexual or romantic entanglements with females. The same for pastiche.
 
We did get the failed attempt by Billy Wilder to proclaim Holmes as homosexual but it failed to make it’s statement clear to a straight audience, who were never going to see the nuances, due to the Estate’s restrictions at the time. In the 1980′s Granada made the most faithful to canon adaptation which ironically is very gay, as is canon, but a straight culture will overlook all of the tropes and clues to this. Without any clear direction to see a same sex love affair, society will continue to keep the blinders on.
 
Taking a step backwards in the Richie movies, Hollywood standards are brought into play, and the trope of the bromance can be played, just brushing the surface of homosexuality but then making sure an attractive woman is inserted into play. Elementary went in a different direction, from opening scenes of Holmes we are TOLD, nay screamed at, that he is straight [he has a female prostitute] and they make Moriarty female so they can give him a love affair from his past. But then we have the hybrid that is BBC Sherlock. The glint of hope that maybe the het culture would get that proclamation from Holmes, but it too was dashed.
 
Holmes on screen does not kiss women romantically or sexually. Some women do attempt to kiss him, with no response, but it’s rare to see any kiss scene for Holmes. Has everyone picked up on this? The character does not evoke a reading as sexually interested in women, he never has, no matter who is at the helm of the writing.
There may be a fake kiss for a case.
And in BBC Sherlock, as they sink to a new low, we have a gratuitous kiss for sherlolly fans thrown in as an Anderson’s Mind Palace theory [the ridiculousness of that statement speaks volumes: the ‘foil’, the character shown to be the opposite of Sherlock in intellect, has a vision of a Molly kiss]
[*As this needs to be emphasized: The kiss was in Anderson’s mind. The kiss between Sherlock and Molly never actually happened. The words forced to be spoken in season 4 were just that, forced words. Words that are made to be spoken by gun-point do not make them true. When a gun is pointing, it forces for anything to be said purely for the sake of getting out of danger. Whether or not they are true or not. What emphasizes the fact that what was said was not actually meant or true was the fact that one of the writers of the how, Moffat, said afterwards that Molly had slept with someone else and ‘got over it’. As horribly misogynistic as that statement was, it still showed how the writers of the show did not intend for the forced words to be true or heartfelt. It was something that was only said to prevent someone from being killed.]
 
[An aside: This is pure titillation to keep the het ship alive. Molly in the show was inserted and used then abused. How anyone can think that outrage about the writing of Molly Hooper’s character and role is misogynistic I do not know]
 
Yet the gay is always there. The jokes, the parodies, the gay icon, the questions. It follows the character no matter where. Undercurrents, subtext, the ghosts that haunt, the final problem.
 
There was a saying in TJLC segment of fandom; gay or trash. That statement arose from the realisation that without confirmed johnlock in the show, the arc of the story would have no direction, it would be unfinished, and sadly would show cruel manipulation of viewers expectations.
I know that most casual viewers were oblivious to the gay romantic tropes; a blindness learned and enforced for centuries. But some casual viewers did see it and desired a happy John and Sherlock resolution, other casuals thought the usual bromance was in play, and as they do not view this practice as queer baiting they were all fine with it.
 
But the real travesty of not only BBC Sherlock but of all pastiche since homosexual laws have been changed, since gay marriage became legal in Britain, is that we still do not have a true depiction of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson’s relationship as it was in the pages of canon.
There is a reason that homosexuality has followed these characters around for over 130 years, it’s not going to go away, because it really is what it is, and that is gay.
 
History tried to het the story by removing Watson from pastiche in the early days, just focus on Holmes, but John never abandons his Sherlock, and so he returned, albeit in a limited role, mainly as a fool, a side-kick, until TPLOSH started the revitalisation and Granada completed it. The momentum built with the Russian Holmes and with Richie-verse, albeit in the latter it was the bromance/queer baiting that alerted the audience to the relationship. And it could have climaxed with BBC Sherlock, but the writers underplayed their hand, going there with a homosexual Sherlock but pulling out before the deed was done, and resorting to sacrificing John Watson on the altar of heteronormativity.
This practice needs to stop. For many reasons, but here are a few;
  • End the dashed hopes of people, both straight and queer, who have followed this story for years in the hope of a true resolution
  • Put an end to queer baiting and instead give a representation by two iconic British characters in a same sex monogamous love affair/marriage
  • Provide a depiction, a resolute and positive image, of intelligent, brave, masculine, men in an epic romance. One that will be noticed worldwide
  • Stop giving fodder via queer baiting to homophobic, queerphobic, people. If the LGBTQ community are shown a glimmer of hope, we are attracted by it, we invest. When we then realise that we were baited it causes pain, but also makes us vulnerable to our enemies. Stop throwing us under the bus
  • Holmes and Watson should have a mainstream pastiche as a happy married couple. They stayed together, albeit on and off in canon [well a fake death and drug use does not help] for longer than most straight married couples
  • Society is not bereft of representation of male friendship on our screens so please rest assured there is no gaping need to fill that hole
  • Allow kids to grow up with various role models. One such role model sorely in need of representation is action hero, super intelligent men in stable, loving same sex relationships
  • Just let John and Sherlock out of the damn closet
(*My addition.)

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