Donald Glover’s Character Lando Calrissian Is Confirmed As Pansexual

In a galaxy far far away, Star Wars fans have been curious about the possibilities of LGBTQ characters in George Lucas’ otherworldly sagas. The new installment, Solo: A Star Wars Story might just change the LGBTQ representation of notable characters and the way they are seen.

The film centers on the Millennium Falcon backstory and revolves around a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) and his comrades Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover). Lando, has a magnificent mustache and suave looks, but is he pansexual or just a flirt?

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In an interview with co-writers of Solo Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan, Huffington Post’s Bill Bradley asked about the character of Lando’s and his sexual fluidity. “Is he pansexual?” asked Bradley, “I would say yes,” Jonathan Kasden replied insistently.

“There’s a fluidity to Donald and Billy Dee’s [portrayal of Lando’s] sexuality,” Kasdan goes on to say. “I mean, I would have loved to have gotten a more explicitly LGBT character into this movie. I think it’s time, certainly, for that, and I love the fluidity ― sort of the spectrum of sexuality that Donald appeals to and that droids are a part of.”

Lando’s sexual orientation may include men, women, and droids. Not only has Lando been flirty with Han Solo but he may also have feelings for his droid L3-37, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Not everyone buys into this notion of Lando’s pansexuality. Megan Farokhmanesh of The Verge calls it bulls—t. “The assertion that Lando is pansexual — because he seems to be interested in a female droid — is a piss-poor shot at representation that still manages to reinforce hetero relationships as default,” she says in the piece. Kasdan’s eagerness to represent the LGBT community is a lovely thought, but it’s just that: a thought. Real representation means crafting considered, nuanced characters whose sexuality is treated as respectfully on-screen as it is off. If creators want to do right by LGBT fans, they can start by picking them up off of the cutting-room floor.

Kasdan elaborated more on the character of Lando by saying, “He doesn’t make any hard and fast rules. I think it’s fun,” Kasdan said. “I don’t know where it will go.” Farokhmanesh replies to this statement on The Verge by saying that Lando’s pansexuality “falls into a long, damaging tradition of conflating pansexuality with promiscuity. Embracing sexual attraction to whomever catches your interest isn’t about being a rule-breaker. Portraying it as such is lazy shorthand for ‘wild and free’ thinking.”

Farokhmanesh continues by saying, “Kasdan’s eagerness to represent the LGBT community is a lovely thought, but it’s just that: a thought. Real representation means crafting considered, nuanced characters whose sexuality is treated as respectfully on-screen as it is off. If creators want to do right by LGBT fans, they can start by picking them up off of the cutting-room floor.”

Experience all of the pansexual goodness or feel free to criticize it when Solo: A Star Wars Story opens on May 25.