“Guys! Bill is gay! Like actually gay! Not LeFou gay or tragigay or vague-hints-but-we’re-not-going-to-show-anything-onscreen gay. She’s actually, openly gay.”
After watching last week’s premiere, I sent that message to a few of my close friends in celebration of Bill Potts, the Doctor’s latest companion. I’ve watched the episode a few times, and I still can’t get enough of Bill. Sure, Captain Jack was unquestionably pansexual, but his limited time with the Doctor often keeps him from being considered a companion along the same lines as Rose or Donna or Clara (don’t @ me). This makes Bill the first openly gay companion*. Not only that, but this isn’t your typical questioning or coming of age story. Bill isn’t trying to figure out if she is a lesbian, she just is a lesbian.
I wish Bill would flirt with me
Of course, coming of age and questioning stories are incredibly valuable. It is immensely helpful for LGBTQIA youth to see these stories and to find themselves in them. It is also valuable for straight folk to see that not all coming out stories are the same; that just because someone is now with a woman doesn’t mean they’ve suddenly “turned lesbian.”
There is also a lot of value to seeing LGBTQIA folk just exist as they are on screen. Study after study shows that increased exposure to accurate representations of LGBTQIA folk on screen leads to greater acceptance in society. It said a lot that Bill wasn’t just a lesbian, the entire episode focused around her crush on a one of the students at the school without fetishizing it. In fact, they presented it the same way they would have if Bill had been straight. I am 100 percent here for that.
Steven Moffat did leave the door open for Bill’s sexuality to cause a potential rift with her foster mom, which left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, I love the idea of an out and proud Bill. On the other, life isn’t always that easy. I know many people (myself included) who were out to friends and select family members way before their parents or those who helped raise them.
It wasn’t just Bill’s sexuality that made her endearing and a strong contender for favourite companion. Her working class background was refreshing to see, after a few seasons of upper middle class companions. Don’t get me wrong, I love Rory and Amy and Clara (she eventually won me over, don’t @ me), but there is something unbelievable relatable about a character who has to sneak into lectures and works in the canteen. Read more.
