There is a myth in fan spaces that characters can only be people of color or members of the LGBT+ community if it adds to the story.

I strongly disagree; characters are white and heterosexual all the time, and we feel no need to explain this.

There is also a myth that droids cannot be gay, because they don’t have genders or because they are robots.

I disagree with this as well. Robots are gay because I, a Star Wars fan, said so.

I’m on this track because I recently saw a fan comic that framed C-3PO and R2-D2 from Star Wars as a gay couple as part of a comedic scene.

Responses to the art were mixed, but those who considered themselves the most hardcore fans of the series seemed the angriest about the concept of the two robots being in a relationship. I’m taking it upon myself to prove them wrong.

First of all, it is true that robots don’t have genders- but the Star Wars Wiki does list both droids as having “masculine programming.”

Either way, I’m not sure what could be heterosexual about two non-binary robots dating each other.

The other argument is that robots don’t have emotions, but that just doesn’t seem true in Star Wars canon.

Droids throughout the universe, from C-3PO to BB-8 to K-2SO, all display the capacity to care and worry about their human friends.

Additionally, in issue #36 of the Star Wars series from Marvel, R2-D2 makes the decision to risk his own physical integrity on a solo mission to save C-3PO from Darth Vader.

Artoo goes on an absolute rampage, taking out two teams of stormtroopers.

Some Star Wars fans theorize that this makes him the deadliest droid in the Rebel Alliance.

The droid is characterized as friendly and kind, maybe sassy at his worst, but he was willing to risk his good name and sanity to rescue Threepio.

The love story between these two characters rivals that of any other romance in the series. They have stood by each other’s side through movie after movie, never losing affection for each other. Whether that means they are in an actual relationship or not doesn’t really matter, but it gives credit to the theory that they could be gay.

If all that isn’t enough for you, remember Mark Hamill’s response to viewers’ questions about whether Luke Skywalker is gay.

“I’d say it is meant to be interpreted by the viewer,” Hamill said. “If you think Luke is gay, of course he is. You should not be ashamed of it. Judge Luke by his character, not by who he loves.”

So there it is. Droids are gay because I think they are.

Luke Taylor is a sophomore journalism major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].