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'Ghostbuster' Holtzmann Is Totes Queer, Just Don't Ask Sony

By Riley Silverman | Ghostbusters | July 15, 2016 |

By Riley Silverman | Ghostbusters | July 15, 2016 |

Since the studio first released cast photos, and let’s be fair, probably even before then, speculation onto the sexuality of Ghostbusters’ Jillian Holtzmann has been rampant on the internet. It can’t be denied that this is largely due to the fact that Kate McKinnon herself is queer. But also, it’s largely to do with the fact that so many ladies want Holtzmann to be:

Even I’m in the mix on that:


Paul Feig has been asked repeatedly to confirm if the character is gay, which he has been admittedly coy about doing due to studio pressures.

This may be a surprising takeaway for me to give on this, especially as someone who is very concerned with representation in pop culture, but I feel like, as much as I’m bummed that Sony would even have a policy on this, and as much as I think having an on-screen self-identified lesbian would have been a big victory for inclusion, I still think this is a big victory. I can’t say anything more without some minor spoilage, so here’s that gif of Holtzmann winking to give you a chance to pull cord and come back later…

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But having seen the film, one of the things I loved about it is that aside from a running gag about Kristen Wiig’s character objectifying Chris Hemsworth, the movie has no romantic plots at all. It’s just a movie about four ladies busting some ghosts. With this in mind, Holtzmann’s identity doesn’t even need to be considered ambiguous. Instead it’s an accidentally major progressive win for LGBT visibility, because by virtue of the studio’s skittishness, what we get instead is a very open, happy queer character who just gets to engage in the story and exist.