Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping just confirmed this prequel character is gay
Hunger Games novel Sunrise on the Reaping just confirmed that this prequel character is gay (Lionsgate FIlms)
The second prequel in the iconic Hunger Games book series, Sunrise on the Reaping, has just confirmed that a character who appeared in A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is gay.
Released globally today (18 March), Sunrise on the Reaping is the fifth instalment in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games novel series. But though its real-world release was preceded by the original, Katniss Everdeen-centric trilogy (2008-10), and then A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in 2020, which saw the origins of Panem’s big bad President Snow, Sunrise on the Reaping‘s action takes place between the two.
The novel follows Haymitch Abernathy – Katniss Everdeen’s mentor in the original trilogy, played by Woody Harrelson in the films – as one of four tributes selected to compete in the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell
Fans of the series reading the book will notice some crossover in characters mentioned due to the universe’s timeline; A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes introduced Lucy Gray Baird (played by Rachel Zegler in the film adaptation), who competed in the 10th Hunger Games. Since Sunrise on the Reaping takes place 40 years later, several members of her musical group, the Covey, are still alive.
It’s one of these characters that the new novel has confirmed is queer during its opening chapter.
Clerk Carmine Clade, the brother of Ballad‘s treacherous Billy Taupe Clade, was originally introduced as a talented fiddler in Lucy Gray Baird’s band. However, by the time Sunrise on the Reaping takes place, his life looks very different.
He has adopted Lenore Dove (Haymitch’s girlfriend) and raised her with Tam Amber, another Covey member –but the pair aren’t romantically involved. The reason for this, it is explained by Haymitch, is as follows.
“I once told Lenore Dove I thought [Clerk] just hated love. That’s when she revealed he’d been together some thirty years with the fellow in town who replaces busted windows,” Collins writes.
The ‘fellow’ isn’t named, but Haymitch does go on to explain that Panem is hardly Mykonos when it comes to acceptance of queer people.
“They have to keep it quiet because loving differently can get you harrassed by the Peacekeepers, fired from jobs, arrested even.”
The passage then cements Haymitch as the gay ally we never knew we needed, reading, “Given his own challenges, you’d think Clerk Carmine would be a champion of our love – I’m certainly supportive of his…”
The Hunger Games series is fairly lacking in queer characters, with Ballad smuggler Pluribus Bell and partner Cyrus largely holding up the fort alongside Barb Azure, a female Covey member whose girlfriend is mentioned in passing.
To be fair, the residents of Panem had a lot else to worry about.
A film for Sunrise on the Reaping is already in the works, and pegged for a November 2026 release – and fans have a few ideas for who they’d like to see as young Haymitch, from Challengers star Mike Faist to gay-pop inventor Jojo Siwa. No, really.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is due in cinemas on 20 November 2026. Sunrise on the Reaping, the novel, is out now.
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