The Star Wars character Lando Calrissian, who started  his existence as a token minority in The Empire Strikes Back when people complained to George Lucas about the lack of black people in Star Wars, has now become a minority of a different kind: a pansexual.  That means he's attracted to every kind of man, woman, and object in the known universe.

Here's something Star Wars fans have long known about Lando Calrissian: He's likely the most charismatic character in the galaxy.

Here's something they just learned, via Solo: A Star Wars Story writer Jonathan Kasdan: Lando (played by Donald Glover and, earlier, Billy Dee Williams) is pansexual.

When explicitly asked about Lando's gender identity by Huffington Post, Kasdan said, "There's a fluidity to Donald and Billy Dee's (portrayal of Lando's) sexuality."  He continued, "I mean, I would have loved to have gotten a more explicitly LGBT character into this movie. I think it's time, certainly, for that, and I love the fluidity – sort of the spectrum of sexuality that Donald appeals to and that droids are a part of."

In Solo, Donald Glover's Lando is as charming as he's always been since Empire Strikes Back, and maybe even more into his capes than ever before.  In the new film, his female droid L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) comments, "I'm sure you noticed that Lando has feelings for me."  And, as some fans have noted since the Solo trailer was released, Lando is flirty toward Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich), at one point calling him "baby."

In addition to being attracted to men, Lando is also sexually attracted to "droids" – that is, robots.

What's interesting about all this is that Lando's sexual-mechanical orientation is never explicitly shown in the film.  Liberal Hollywood has no problem promoting women and minorities in key roles simply because they are women and minorities, but Hollywood has been afraid to have openly homosexual characters in film for fear of repelling audiences.  In The Last Jedi, Laura Dern's character Admiral Holdo is simply an obnoxious feminist; you had to read the novelization to learn that she is also a lesbian.

But I'm sure the march of progress will continue, and it won't be long before we'll see Lando seducing Chewbacca, or in bed with an R2 unit.

As for me, I'm still waiting for C-3PO, the Liberace of the Star Wars series, to come out of the maintenance closet.

Ed Straker is the senior writer at Newsmachete.com.

Image: Hannaford via Flickr.