Updated on February 8, 2015
PremiseA team of United States secret service agents investigate, retrieve, and safekeep "artifacts" - objects that cause unexplained effects on those in contact with them - in a secret warehouse (currently Warehouse 13), to protect the world from the artifacts' unnatural consequences, some benign and some super evil. The agents' mission is, as the show proclaims, to: "Snag it, bag it, and tag it." Below is a great summary provided by Syfy. (Warning: spoilers for seasons 1-4.5)
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Register of Gay
- Bering and Wells - pure and simple. In general, this show has a lot of gay points in its column, but, at least for the purposes of this website, Bering and Wells reigns supreme. The standalone page for the ship is here: Bering and Wells.
- H.G. Wells - a canonical bisexual character, played by the one and only Jaime Murray, the harbinger of GLBTness
- Steve "Jinksy" Jinks - a canonical gay character who is delightful and attached to the hip to his main hag, Claudia Donovan
- Pro-GLBT Cast and Crew - in general, Warehouse 13 has a very pro-GLBT cast and crew, led by the showrunner Jack Kenny, an out gay man, and producer/writer Drew Z. Greenberg, also an out gay man, who proudly participated in the NOH8 campaign and has worked on two shows with gay content: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The O.C. As discussed by io9 in its interview with Joanne Kelly: "Kelly says she's really proud of the fact that Warehouse 13 had an openly gay character in Steve Jinks, and his sexuality wasn't made the main issue about his character at all. A lot of the people who work on the show are queer, and the show very much advocates for equality. 'I love our show. I think there's a moral and ethical thing that runs through it,' and advocating LGBT equality is part of that.'"
- Jane Espenson - Warehouse 13's creator is a prolific American television writer and producer who has had a hand in numerous shows that featured gay content, text or subtext, including: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ellen, Game of Thrones, The O.C., Once Upon a Time, and Torchwood. She also is a proud participant in the NOH8 campaign.
- Guest Stars - outside of having an impressive list of legendary guest stars from the scifi community, the show also has had a fair amount of guest stars with GLBT ties
- The L Word - Apparently, Michael and Susan Hogan, married in real life, are both really good at playing parents of lady gays. The Hogans appear as Myka Bering's parents, Warren and Jeannie Bering, in episode 1.11. They also played Dana Fairbanks' parents, Irwin and Sharon Fairbanks, on The L Word. In another weird twist, their son Gabriel Hogan plays Sam Martino, Myka's former lover and partner. It's a Hogan-palooza up in Warehouse 13.
- Captain Janeway/Seven of Nine - both actresses of the classic lesbian crackship between Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) from Star Trek: Voyager have made guest appearances on the show, though never in the same episode. Mulgrew plays Jane Lattimer, mother of Pete Lattimer and current Regent and Guardian of the Warehouse, and has appeared in episodes 3.08, 3.09, 3.11, and 3.12. On the show, Jane Lattimer has a pretty butch sensibility about her - two examples being: 1) She punched a bad guy while referencing the Ali-Frazier bout; 2) She told Myka to "cowboy up" and later grabbed a firehose to scale down an elevator shaft in a burning building. Also, she did both of those while wearing earth tone pantsuits. There's no real basis to claim her character is gay (she was married to Pete's father) and it really isn't relevant anyway, but still...earth tone pantsuits, people. As to Jeri Ryan, she played Pete's ex-wife, Amanda Martin, in episodes 3.04 and 4.09.
- Dr. Kerry Weaver - Laura Innes, who played the lesbian physician Kerry Weaver on ER, appears in episode 4.08 as Steve Jinks' mother.
- Ianto Jones - On the male side of things, Gareth David-Lloyd appears in episode 3.05 as William Wolcott, H.G. Wells' fellow Warehouse 12 Agent. David-Lloyd is probably most famously known for his role as Ianto Jones on Torchwood, where he played a bisexual Torchwood team member/researcher and was one-half of the canonical gay ship Janto (or Jack/Ianto).
- Queer as Folk - In the Pilot episode of Warehouse 13, Sherry Miller plays Lorna Soliday (what a name), a lawyer who becomes a bit of a whacko due to an artifact. Miller notably played Jennifer Taylor on Queer as Folk, where she was the (mostly) supportive mother of her gay son, Justin.
- Lost Girl - Besides sharing the same network in the U.S.A. (Syfy), Lost Girl and Warehouse 13 have shared a lot of actors as well. Genelle Williams, who plays Leena on Warehouse, appeared as Hessa in 2.15 of Lost Girl; Alex Paxton-Beesley, who plays the young Rebecca St. Claire in episodes 2.10 and 3.05, also appeared in 3.06 as Tamsin's friend, Lola; Paul Amos, who played Charles Wells (H.G.'s brother) in episode 3.05, has a regularly recurring role on Lost Girl as Vex, the presumably bisexual Dark Fae Mesmer; and, finally, Aaron Ashmore (Jinksy) appeared as Nate, the love interest of Kenzi, on Lost Girl in five episodes (2.12, 2.13, 2.15, 2.17, and 2.19).
- Imagine Me & You - In episodes 4.18, 4.19, and 4.20, Anthony Head takes on the role of Parcelsus, the big bad guy, to close out season 4 of Warehouse 13. Head previously appeared as Rupert Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a father figure to many of the characters, including Willow Rosenberg. He also played Ned, the father of Luce in Imagine Me & You.
- Sonia Braga - She appears in 5.04: Savage Seduction in the telenovela alongside Pete, Myka, and Kelly, but she also appeared on Sex and the City for episodes 4.03, 4.04, and 4.05 as the lesbian girlfriend of Samantha Jones.
- Orange is the New Black - Kate Mulgrew, as referenced above, plays head Russian in charge Red in the very gay Netflix show Orange is the New Black.
- Skyler Wexler - played Catie in the Christmas episode 2.13: The Greatest Gift. Wexler also plays Kira Manning in Orphan Black, which features a very pro-GLBT cast and multiple GLBT characters, including, but not limited to, Cosima Niehaus, Delphine Cormier, Felix Dawkins, and Tony.
- Joel Grey - Appeared as Monty the Magnificent in episode 4.14: The Sky's the Limit. In January 2015, Grey publicly revealed that he is gay.
Pro-GLBT Sightings
Beyond all of the gayness listed above, the show has had some GLBT "I Spy" sightings as well:
Beyond all of the gayness listed above, the show has had some GLBT "I Spy" sightings as well:
Characters/ActorsMyka Bering (Joanne Kelly) - explored in depth here. Joanne Kelly is covered here.
H.G. Wells (Jaime Murray) - explored in depth here. Jaime Murray is covered here. |
Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) - a Warehouse 13 agent and the partner of Myka Bering. He's a straight dude, who I initially thought I would dislike, but, instead, he has become a character I love very, very dearly. He gets "vibes" about people, events, anything really and is the main source of comedic relief on the show. He's absolutely hilarious and, in my opinion, 1/2 of the epic brotp with Myka. In general, he's a big brother to everyone in the Warehouse. He loves to eat, say, "Hey, hey, hey," and is super lovable, except for the rare times he is written like a 7-year old child. Pete Lattimer is played by Eddie McClintock, an Ohio native (hey, hey, hey!), and consistent supporter of the GLBT community. McClintock previously played Ryan Crane, the gay brother of Noel Crane, on Felicity. He has participated in the NOH8 campaign, has a very enjoyable Twitter account to follow, and, in general, goes out of his way to interact with fans. |
Claudia Donovan (Allison Scagliotti) - the "tech department" of Warehouse 13, sometimes junior agent, and future caretaker of the Warehouse. She is a young genius who invents, hacks, and is able to handle almost anything thrown her way. She is the Kenzi of Warehouse 13, in that she is the youngest person on the team, is extremely funny, and a huge hag (specifically for Jinksy). She takes on more of a "little sister" role with the other Warehouse team, but she is still treated as an equal. If it wasn't for all of her canonical straight dalliances, she'd certainly be in consideration for being a lady gay. Claudia is a member of many a Warehouse crackship, including the biggest crackship involving Claudia, which is Cleena, a ship between her and Leena. A fair argument could be made to support the crackships of Claudia/Myka and Claudia/H.G. as well, but, as far as canon goes, Claud's a straightie - and a great one at that! Scagliotti is a very vocal pro-GLBT ally, has participated in the NOH8 campaign, and is a big music lover. Also, she gets bonus points for a lesbian BFF.
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Arthur "Artie" Nielsen fka Arthur Weisfelt (Saul Rubinek) - Special Agent in Charge of Warehouse 13 or, basically, just the day-to-day boss of all of the Warehouse agents. His eyebrows are insane; he can be very crusty at times; but, in general, he's the father-type figure for all of the Warehouse family and deeply cares about all of the agents he supervises (whether he shows it or not). Artie also dates on/off the Warehouse physician, Doctor Vanessa Calder (Lindsay Wagner) - lucky guy. Saul Rubinek played Martin Hirsch, the father of a gay son, in Oy Vey! My Son is Gay!!, a positive 2010 GLBT comedy, and he also played Dr. Jim Curran in And the Band Played On. |
Leena (Genelle Williams) (deceased on the show) - proprietor of Leena's Bed and Breakfast, the dorm for Warehouse 13 agents. Leena can sense and read people's auras and is, generally, a mysterious character on the show - a very, very sweet mysterious character, to be specific. Contrary to the idea that characters/people with only one name are so important that they don't need two names, Leena never really takes the forefront in Warehouse 13, but seems to always be on the periphery. As mentioned above, she's part of the crackship Cleena, but, really, the only time she was main-text romantic with anyone was when she was hardcore hitting on Pete in the Pilot. Awkward turtle to think about now. Williams played Carla Carlisle, a lesbian teen who was in a short-lived relationship with Alex Nunez, on Degrassi, as well as Hessa, an opposite-of-Leena bad lady on episode 2.15 of Lost Girl.
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Steven "Jinksy" Jinks (Aaron Ashmore) - as described above, Jinksy is a Warehouse 13 agent as of Season 3. He's Claudia's main gay, can tell if people are lying, and, is, basically, a really nice guy. Other than telling his fellow agents that he's gay, his sexual orientation has been a non-issue. Outside of a fling with his hunky ex Liam (4.16), Steve has not had any on-screen romances so far. Ashmore, who plays Jinksy, has been supportive of the GLBT community and his role in Warehouse 13 and seems as adorably nice as his character is on the show. He also appeared on the uber-gay Lost Girl as Kenzi's boyfriend (lucky guy) for a five episode stint (2.12, 2.13, 2.15, 2.17, and 2.19). Random tip - the scene where Pete addresses Jinksy being gay is a delight and should be watched by any and all. Just by viewing that small scene, you get an immediate understanding of Jinksy, Pete, and Myka (minus the blond hair). Do it! |
Irene "Mrs. F" Frederic (C.C.H. Pounder) - the current caretaker of Warehouse 13. She is the mysterious badass that everyone answers to on the show. She has lived a very long time (her grandson is now physically older than she is) and her life is connected to the Warehouse, as she is its caretaker. She appears and disappears out of nowhere (yet to be explained) and is not one with whom to messeth with. Once Pete hugged her (13.3), and it was very jarring, yet great, yet terrifying, all at once. He's still alive, so way to go, Pete! C.C.H. Pounder has been active in charities and organizations that fight HIV and AIDS, and has been a supporter of various GLBT causes, such as GLSEN. |
Trailer Trailer (or Trey) is the Warehouse 13 dog, who joined the team in 3.07: Past Imperfect. Trailer was a stray dog that helped the team solve a mission, while developing a deep, psychic bond with Artie through the use of an artifact. Trey survived 3.12, when many others did not, and the guy has his own Twitter. |
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