Lucas/Luke: Queen Identity
In a series full of gay characters, I feel like Lucas/Luke is the one character who really embodies queerness. Let me explain.
In both his Mafia series (Lucas) and Werewolf iteration (Luke), he has to traverse prejudices that the other characters do not. He's also much more self knowledgeable.
In the Mafia storyline, Lucas is the only character to experience clear and visceral homophobia. The other main characters all start out so resoundingly in the closet that they never even realize they're gay until they meet "their person." At which point wealth and status protect them. Gideon, Noah and Andrew all believe themselves to be straight at first. Only Lucas truly knows himself.
(Granted, while Gideon & Noah seem just generally ignorant of their own sexualities, Andrew is openly homophobic... which makes me think he had some self-awareness mixed with self-hatred going on before he met Lucas, probably going back to his family.)
But Lucas has known he's gay from the beginning, and has suffered the accompanying, damaging predujecies in both his personal and professional life. To the point that he's practically blacklisted from acting at the start of the second season of the Mafia storyline.
Taking this further, from Lucas being the only openly gay character from the begining of his Mafia arc, I'd likewise say that Luke is the only gender-queer character in the Werewolf arc.
Luke is very comfortable in his ballgown persona in public and at various events, displaying ease and gender fluidity.
Moreover, Eugene recognizes Luke's silhouette in the gown, whereas Soren (who knew Luke when he was Eugene's parter, before Luke vanished for six years) does not recognize him in traditionally masc clothes and shorter hair– implying that Luke presented predominantly as fem in the past, when he was in Eugene and Soren's inner circle.
Finally, as far as plot, Luke carries the weight of being part of the "forbidden" Witch clan, which was seemingly all but exterminated a century before. He remains. His existence is a "social taboo." And he is living and raising a child despite all the adversity.
I think it's very interesting how both the Mafia series and the Werewolf stories capture and continue the exploration of Lucas/Luke as a queer character across genres.
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