Funny, my take on Fleming was that not only was he not gay, but he wasn't even especially tolerant of gays. My memory of the books is that they're full of bizarre rants on how all the world's problems are the fault of people "confused about their sexuality," which includes not only men who like men and women who like women, but even women intent on voting, wearing slacks and driving cars. I mean, I love Fleming but sometimes his writings come off like Grandpa Simpson's angry letters to the government or the networks. He may have been a hedonist but I'd never call him "progressive" in the social sense.
I think you are so wrong on this one. When homosexuality was - shamefully - illegal, he was one of very few popular writers who even dared to air the subject. To our eyes, his writings may come across as patronising and unenlightened. But it is always a mistake to judge novels written 50 years ago based on our prevailing social mores.
In Noel Coward's diaries - a fabulous read, btw - there are countless passages where Coward and his boyfriend stay with Ann and Ian at Goldeneye; that, to me, does not suggest someone who actively disliked gays.
Surely the next big question is...
Is it true that gay people can't whistle?
It isn't because I can...
Ian Fleming wrote 13 books about a womanizer who killed, gambled, ate good food, and slept with dozens of women.
How this would preclude his being gay remains a mystery to me, I'm afraid. Are you suggesting I would be incapable of writing about such a character simply because of which gender I sleep with...?
