Patrick Stewart’s queer roles: sharp-tongued queen, opera flirt and sex-loving bisexual
Following news of Stewart’s death, the LGBTQ+ community has been celebrating his allyship both on and off screen, from his campaigning against Section 28 to his first openly gay role in Jeffrey
By Aaron Sugg
Patrick Stewart was one of the greats, reaching millions through his iconic on-screen characters Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor X in the X-Men film franchise. But for the queer community, there are a few more of his roles that will stay with many of us forever.
Following news of Stewart’s death on 28 October, aged 86, after “a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia”, many in the LGBTQ+ community are celebrating his allyship both on and off screen.
Off-screen, alongside his good friend Sir Ian McKellen, Stewart joined the fight against anti-gay legislation, including Section 28. He was also an outspoken supporter of marriage equality and, when faced with questions about his support, answered them unwaveringly, saying it was a “natural and uncomplicated” choice to stand up for gay rights.
Patrick Stewart in Jeffrey
On screen, Stewart’s queer roles included Sterling in the 1995 comedy Jeffrey, directed by Christopher Ashley, which follows a group of gay men navigating love and sex during the AIDS crisis.
Stewart played flamboyant interior decorator Sterling, Jeffrey’s close friend and confidant, whose sharp wit and wisdom brought plenty of camp humour to the film. Complete with a charming pink beret and red scarf, Sterling was in a relationship with Darius, played by Bryan Batt, who is living with HIV.
Speaking to Windy City Times in 2015, Stewart reminisced about taking on the role, which marked the first time he had played an openly gay character.
“I think that was my first time playing an openly gay character and I enjoyed it immensely. Having led a life in the theater, I had been in the company of homosexual men and women from a teenager. It was familiar and completely normal,” he said.
Stewart went on to play another gay character in the hit sitcom Frasier. Appearing in the 2003 episode “The Doctor Is Out”, he portrayed Alistair Burke, a sophisticated opera director who mistakenly believes Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) is gay and begins pursuing him romantically, before his theory is debunked by Frasier’s wife.
Stewart in Match
His queer roles continued with the 2014 drama Match, in which he played Tobias “Tobi” Powell, a bisexual Juilliard dance instructor.
When a couple visit Tobi under the pretence of interviewing him about his career choreographing operas at major theatres around the world and his current teaching role at one of America’s most prestigious dance schools, he is forced to confront his past, including the sexual freedoms of the 1960s, his own sexuality and the possibility that he fathered a child decades earlier.
The film challenges assumptions about sexuality and ageing, presenting Tobi as a man whose appetite for sex and connection remains very much alive.
Speaking to The Advocate about the role in 2015, Stewart said he knew he wanted to play Tobi as soon as he finished reading the screenplay. Part of the appeal was the opportunity to challenge ageist attitudes surrounding sex.
“These problems only exist through young people, who feel that they invented sex and that it was created specifically for them and that it’s only them,” he said.
“Of course, those things just don’t go away at all. But there has always been this kind of offensive aspect to the idea that someone over 40, male or female, should be sexually active, and that’s absolutely absurd. Like my character in the film says, it’s one of the greatest gifts we have been given and it has to be celebrated.”