‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Reveals the Show’s First LGBT Character
Yellowstone Season 5 introduced Clara Brewer, played by Lilli Kay. Clara works as John’s assistant after he is elected governor. She is skilled at her job, intelligent, and, fans come to find, no stranger to the cowboy life. She is also the first openly gay character on Yellowstone.
[Warning: Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 7 spoilers ahead.]
Lilli Kay plays Clara Brewer in ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5
Actor Lilli Kay joined the cast of Yellowstone Season 5 as Clara Brewer, an assistant to Governor John Dutton. John is very unorthodox in his new position, and he certainly gives Clara a run for her money. However, she never seems too flustered and is definitely competent at her job.
Clara accompanies John to the spring gathering, where John learns she is quite comfortable on a horse. She even helps Teeter and the other cowboys brand and vaccinate horses. Clara seems to have the time of her life working with the cowboys, and quite a few fans are enjoying this new character.
“They’ve managed to introduce some really good new characters,” one Reddit user said of Yellowstone. “Amongst this new batch, there have been quite a few, but Clara really stands out. I could watch an entire episode of just her interacting with her boss.”
Clara Brewer is the first LGBT character to appear in ‘Yellowstone’
Some fans suspected Clara might have a crush on John Dutton. The pair spend a lot of time together, and not all viewers are invested in the love interests John has been with so far. However, episode 7 put those hopes to bed.
At the festival, John sits in the grass with Summer. She advises him that they shouldn’t be kissing in public, but John points out that “my press adviser is behind me, making out.” Viewers then see Clara kissing a woman in the grass behind John. This makes Clara the first LGBT character to appear in Yellowstone.
In an interview with CherryPicks, Lilli Kay shared her view on female characters in the series. “I love that the women of Yellowstone often subvert traditional feminine archetypes—the way they inhabit ‘femininity’ or ‘masculinity’ is incredibly fluid,” Kay told the outlet
“These women are smart and loving, but they’re also violent. To me, that’s huge.” The actor added that her character Clara has a “shifting sense of identity.”
“She’s got this more feminine, professional presentation of self and also this very relaxed, messier version of herself that manifests on the ranch,” Kay continued. “We get to see a lot of shades of her. And I feel like I definitely identify with all of them.”
Taylor Sheridan has addressed comments about ‘Yellowstone’ being a ‘conservative show’
Clara’s introduction comes at an interesting time. Creator Taylor Sheridan recently discussed comments about the series being referred to as “the conservative show.”
“They refer to it as ‘the conservative show’ or ‘the Republican show’ or ‘the red-state Game of Thrones,'” Sheridan said in an interview with The Atlantic.
“And I just sit back laughing. I’m like, ‘Really?’ The show’s talking about the displacement of Native Americans and the way Native American women were treated and about corporate greed and the gentrification of the West and land-grabbing. That’s a red-state show?”
New episodes of season 5 of Yellowstone premiere Sunday nights on Paramount Network.
