The (Stephen) Bourne Identity

Licence To Queer

Stephen Bourne saw Goldfinger in the cinema in 1964 as an ‘impressionable little gay boy’. Author of one of the first (if not the first) books to see Bond films queerly, Stephen reveals how his thinking about the ‘offensive’ characters in Bond has become more nuanced since he wrote the book - and urges everyone to keep a more open mind.

Stephen is the author of Brief Encounters: Lesbians and Gays in British Cinema, published in 1996. To my knowledge, this is one of very first (if not the first) books to treat Bond films as ‘queer’ films. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brief-Encounters-Lesbians-British-1930-71/dp/0304332860

Fighting Proud is the book which first drew Stephen to my attention. Published in 2017, the book reveals the untold stories of the gay men who served in Two World Wars. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fighting-Proud-Untold-Story-Served/dp/1784538744

Stephen published his very first book in 1991, collaborating with his adopted aunt on relating her life as a black working-class Londoner. The book was later turned into a documentary, which you can view here: https://youtu.be/710s3ljCKag?si=XPgvRsJHs9WF8Egy

2022’s Black Poppies: The Story of Britain’s Black Community in the First World War is Stephen’s bestselling book to date, currently in its third printing. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Poppies-Story-Britains-Community/dp/0750999632/ref=sr_1_1?crid=19LQ4MO9E51VN&keywords=black+poppies&qid=1705232380&s=books&sprefix=black+poppies%2Cstripbooks%2C65&sr=1-1