Logo

Are there any queer Space Marine Legion in Warhammer 30k or 40k?

11.06.2025 09:35

Are there any queer Space Marine Legion in Warhammer 30k or 40k?

Of course, you have the Dark Angels and Lion el’Johnson, named directly for the poem about hiding secret homosexuality by the poet Lionel Johnson. The First Legion is not secretly queer - their secret is The Fallen - but the original connection is what it is.

That said…

The process of turning a pre-pubescent boy into a Space Marine essentially turns them into biological war robots.

How do you leave a relationship when you are still in love?

…Games Workshop has laced subtle connections and allusions (some of them very dated and derogatory) to LGBTQ culture into Space Marine lore.

You also have the Emperor’s Children.

Back in the late 80’s when 40k was born, gay/queer/trans was still widely and popularly seen in most Western societies as “transgressive.” A quick and easy way for other scenes to clearly convey their own transgressiveness was to ape and caricature the fashion associated with certain gay and BDSM cultures: tight studded leathers, spikes, straps, chains, dog collars, that kind of thing. That is why punk and heavy metal used aspects of that look.

What are mean nicknames to call my sister? She is always so mean to me.

TL/DR: No, there are officially no queer Space Marine Legions. There are also no heterosexual Space Marine legions.

Games Workshop used these originally-queer “transgressive” motifs for Slaanesh and the Emperor’s Children. Without ever explicitly saying so, EC background coyly alluded to them being sexually transgressive in a “you do the math” sort of way. They were very up front about the noise/music aspect, the sadism, masochism and narcotics aspect… but the “other forbidden pleasures” that the Emperor’s Children indulged in were always left unspoken with a wink and a shrug.

Space Marine background lore is consistently clear that Astartes are asexual - they neither reproduce sexually, nor do they feel a sex drive. The lore is deliberately unclear whether they even still have a penis, and there is no reason to think that they retain their useless testes. In one of the novels, an Eldar refers to them as “geld warriors.”

Ive been pretending to be okay and acting as normal as possible, but Im actually completely heartbroken after a recent breakup. Its painful and really affecting me, to the point where I cant concentrate at work, Ive lost my appetite, I cant sleep, and It feels as if my whole world has been turned upside down. I loved him so much. He said so many cruel things to me and it made me realize he must not have loved me the way I loved him, or he wouldnt have said such horrible things. How do I handle the heartbreak and why cant I accept that he didnt love me and just forget about him?