Suanne Braun, Nicole deBoer and Neve McIntosh or I love the women of sci fi and the actors behind the characters

I am a geek, there’s no denying it. There’s no denying my past or my sexuality either. Growing up there weren’t really any lesbian characters on my screen (with the exception of Bad Girls) so I turned to Sci Fi television and any books I could to find strong women to look up to, Stargate, X-Files, Nancy Drew, you name it, I clamoured for it. So to be an adult and find that women in the media are starting to come out and that there are books aimed at us is exceptional. Luvia Peterson, Pauley Perrette and Jasika Nicole make me smile with their openess. But there is more than just my sexuality that plays a part to this story. Although that plays a part.

I fell in love with the world of Sci-Fi during a difficult period of my life. I fell into it hard and watched with an excitement that hasn’t left me. I am proud that I like a genre where women have brains as well as outer beauty. And I love that the actresses behind those characters are also intelligent people.

Whilst I could bore you with tales of each one I have met I will only mention the three that I met today at LFCC Winter. Because those experiences are freshest in my mind.

I admit that Suanne Braun was the reason I went to the con today. As a teenager I fell into Stargate SG1 and it was my sanctuary. The character of Hathor stuck with me and I often rewatch that episode. Whilst a ‘bad guy’ Hathor was confident in her skin and owned her sexuality and power. Finding that Suanne is on Twitter, I followed her, have tweeted with her and sent her a sketch I drew. Then she signed up to the con and I knew I had to go. Today, this delightful and talented South African lady proved she is not only beautiful but so lovely to her fans. I handed her the present I had made for her and a card and got my first autograph of the day from her. She recognised who I was from the poster I had her sign, stood up, leaned across the table and hugged me. A look of pure appreciation was in her eyes. At that point she hadn’t read the card and still that look was there. She made my morning. I went back for a second autograph later. And then at the photo op she insisted we take a second one so I could choose if I wanted one where we looked like “conjoined twins” or not. Of course that was the one I chose. She has also been gracious and tweeted me during the course of the day and again this evening to thank me for the present and card.

Nicole deBoer made me feel warm and welcomed, smiled when she saw we both have beauty marks on the same side above our upper lip and was genuinely enthused to meet a fan of DS9.

The third lady I met today was Neve McIntosh. Trying to tell her how grateful I am for the characters of Vastra and Jenny in Doctor Who, I stumbled over my words. I told her how growing up we didn’t have the normalised LGBTQ characters and I love that they have given us that. She recommended a book called Orange is not the only fruit. Shall have to try and find a copy. But she got what I was saying. She listened intently and she discussed it with me. For that I am grateful.

The sincerity of each of the women I met today and their genuinely obvious brains and beauty made today perfect. People may roll their eyes when I say I am off to a con but the women of Sci Fi were, are and will always be the ones I look up to and respect. They will always give me hope and they will always be the reason that I can hold my head a little higher because they have taught me that societal standards aren’t everything.