Who should be the next gay character?

[maxhilary]

The problem with outing characters as being gay is when you have decades and decades of comics where they weren't.

A new character, or older one that hasn't been used as much? Sure. We don't know them enough to say otherwise. Spider-man? Iron man? No. We've literally read their thoughts. If they were gay and hiding it, something would have come up by now. It's one of the main reasons I think the Iceman reveal was horrible. Outing a big name character such as that also seems to go against the representation people claim they want. Being gay should be a normal thing for a character. You should be able to say "yeah, there are gay Avengers. Sure. Why wouldn't there be?" Instead people want to turn it into a huge headline. "CAPTAIN AMERICA REVEALED TO BE GAY!" That just suggests that there's something wrong about being gay or that it's not normal.

As yes, some people are in denial or have been hiding it in real life for a long time, but we don't see those people when nobody else is looking and aren't able to read their thoughts, so that kind of argument doesn't hold water.

Also, the idea that everything a character has done before is because he's secretly gay and in denial or trying to hide is just seems like a lazy justification.

As someone who is gay and came to terms with it relatively early, had you read my thoughts when I was teenager you wouldn't have known about me unless you were specifically looking for it. Denial is a more powerful state of mind then most people understand. I would literally be reading the Uncanny X-men issues of Northstar crushing on Iceman and think to myself "this is interesting but so weird, such an alien concept", even though by this point I was already attracted to guys, just not consciously. So I'm just saying that just because we've had thought bubbles from a character over the years, doesn't mean that character can't be gay. And even if we can read these character's thoughts, if said character would be in denial it wouldn't come up directly in their thoughts ever, in my experience at least. You do everything subconsciously to not think about it, and avoid situations where you would be forced to think about it.

And as far as someone being gay being a big huge announcement, that has to do with society, and you can see the change too. It used to be that if a celeb came out, then there would be a lot of headlines about it, regardless of the level of fame. Nowadays it isn't seen like AS much of a big deal, for B-list celebs and below, however if someone like Leonardo DiCaprio or Chris Evans were to suddenly come out, it would definitely be a big deal. Until society reaches a point where being LGBT is truly not stigmatized anymore, not just in one part of the world but worldwide, this kind of stuff will still be considered significant.

Just my 2 cents about this particular argument, I don't really have any thoughts about the topic otherwise.

[Skedatz]

The problem with outing characters as being gay is when you have decades and decades of comics where they weren't.

A new character, or older one that hasn't been used as much? Sure. We don't know them enough to say otherwise. Spider-man? Iron man? No. We've literally read their thoughts. If they were gay and hiding it, something would have come up by now. It's one of the main reasons I think the Iceman reveal was horrible. Outing a big name character such as that also seems to go against the representation people claim they want. Being gay should be a normal thing for a character. You should be able to say "yeah, there are gay Avengers. Sure. Why wouldn't there be?" Instead people want to turn it into a huge headline. "CAPTAIN AMERICA REVEALED TO BE GAY!" That just suggests that there's something wrong about being gay or that it's not normal.

As yes, some people are in denial or have been hiding it in real life for a long time, but we don't see those people when nobody else is looking and aren't able to read their thoughts, so that kind of argument doesn't hold water.

Also, the idea that everything a character has done before is because he's secretly gay and in denial or trying to hide is just seems like a lazy justification.

Like others have said: It can't apply to just any character, it has to sort of fit the mindframe the character exists in. Bobby fit it pretty well, as a few other characters might *cough*Pietro*cough*. So someone like... say... Moon Knight wouldn't work (barring any potential personalities). Since he's spent his whole life in an obsession with Marlene, and has a gay pilot (who I think is dead now?) it would've been easier for him to reveal being gay long ago. It would be odd if he suddenly just "came to terms" with it and started crushing on a guy. This isn't what people are talking about. People aren't just looking to pick random characters and make them gay so much as discovering characters who might fit the mold and could be gay.

As for the inner thoughts? It's not like people who continually think how much they like women aren't secretly gay, or women who marry men and have kids aren't secretly lesbians. Just ask some military people or reparative therapy "failures" how often they've talked about how hot the opposite sex are in their heads only to realize they'd been lying to themselves all their lives to fit the mold their families/jobs/societies needed them to. Though that doesn't mean people who do think that are gay, it just means that it's not a sure fire indicator.

But some characters (like the ones you mentioned) have no questions or potential suggestions about their sexuality. And anytime a big change such as coming out would happen to a character would be a pretty big headline without it being seen as abnormal. Like, imagine if the President of the USA just came out as gay. It would be huge headlines for weeks if not months and a big part of their election campaigns. It would be just surprising and everybody would be talking about it as he talks about laws regarding LGBTQ and minority concepts. So even if someone wanted to just make a character gay who was a main character, it would become a big part of their lives since it would change pretty much everything around them in terms of relationships. But it's just the world we live in where if someone who's been seen as straight for a long time comes out as gay it will cause a large reaction among interested parties. I don't particularly see that as being bad to be honest.

I also feel like I should point out I'm not looking for this in the majority of characters or any real amount of characters. People are just looking for other characters to potentially have this. Not guaranteed "conversion" or on a crusade.

For some reason I'm not happy with this post as I re-read it.

It may actually be a bit of a stereotypical idea, but those womanizer characters are usually the ones I can see the most being bi lol.

Probably because the concept of being able to physically but not emotionally engage.

[whiterabbit]

That's not the same thing at all. Unless you're a shapeshifter you can't suppress your race and make it a secret. Either way, it's not even the same subject or line of thinking.

Nor do people hate that all the popular characters are white. If you're talking about people who say, "Why aren't there more heroes of color?" that's more along the lines of, "There are a lot of people of color, at least some of them statistically should be heroic." It's not, "I hate Cap because he's white, but if Steve Rogers were black I'd like him." Instead, the thought is, "If ten people have been or can be Captain America, why can't at least one of them be black?"

And even then, are we sure Pietro is completely straight? Seems like the sort of guy who might "stray" if the payoff was sweet enough.

There are absolutely people who hate characters that are white because they're white. Have you not read Gabby Rivera's tweets? She's a writer for Marvel who has openly spoken against interracial relationships and calls white people "YT people". Not only white people can be racist. Racism isn't a door that swings one way.

But I would say Pietro is straight because he hasn't openly shown an interest in men like he did Medusa or flirted with men.

[Skedatz]

There are absolutely people who hate characters that are white because they're white. Have you not read Gabby Rivera's tweets? She's a writer for Marvel who has openly spoken against interracial relationships and calls white people "YT people". Not only white people can be racist. Racism isn't a door that swings one way.

But I would say Pietro is straight because he hasn't openly shown an interest in men like he did Medusa or flirted with men.

I'm not saying there aren't people who don't hate white people just because they're white. I'm saying (or at least should've been more clear) that the case isn't EVERYBODY isn't hating on "straight white characters" because they're straight and white. But I also feel I should say a single example of someone "misbehaved" of an entire community isn't representative out of an entire community. Anymore than I think we should view people who are somewhat against "diversification" are all racist homophobe women haters because some comic fans talk from that view and they just happen to be talking about the same subject. For instance, I don't think Frank Cho or Dave Sims are the voices of the comic community even if they're easy targets to say, "People who don't quite get it."

[stingray]

Or maybe he just... likes women?

Glad someone else said this. After my divorce, I slept with a fair amount of women. Hardly in the league of Tony Stark, but I was a regular at bars for a few years, and met a lot of women my age who were in the same boat and didn't want a serious relationship. This didn't mean I was hiding or trying to deny my sexual identity, it meant I was embracing it. I wasn't gay, I was just horny. Tony Stark has appeared in almost 9,000 comics. Think about that. 9,000. He has been straight for those issues, over a space of 50 years. Now some people want his (or another similarly long running character) sexual preferences changed because newly created characters don't sell, or existing gay characters aren't popular enough to carry a book. This, to me at least, is ridiculous.

[Techno_Knight]

Glad someone else said this. After my divorce, I slept with a fair amount of women. Hardly in the league of Tony Stark, but I was a regular at bars for a few years, and met a lot of women my age who were in the same boat and didn't want a serious relationship. This didn't mean I was hiding or trying to deny my sexual identity, it meant I was embracing it. I wasn't gay, I was just horny. Tony Stark has appeared in almost 9,000 comics. Think about that. 9,000. He has been straight for those issues, over a space of 50 years. Now some people want his (or another similarly long running character) sexual preferences changed because newly created characters don't sell, or existing gay characters aren't popular enough to carry a book. This, to me at least, is ridiculous.

It's current-year stingray, get with the times... Tony doesn't like women, he's clearly overcompensating. Same goes with Nick Fury, Bond, Conan, every other masculine character. They're all repressed homosexuals...

[Crimz]

I think the person who said Tony may have been joking.

[Zero Hunter]

Glad someone else said this. After my divorce, I slept with a fair amount of women. Hardly in the league of Tony Stark, but I was a regular at bars for a few years, and met a lot of women my age who were in the same boat and didn't want a serious relationship. This didn't mean I was hiding or trying to deny my sexual identity, it meant I was embracing it. I wasn't gay, I was just horny. Tony Stark has appeared in almost 9,000 comics. Think about that. 9,000. He has been straight for those issues, over a space of 50 years. Now some people want his (or another similarly long running character) sexual preferences changed because newly created characters don't sell, or existing gay characters aren't popular enough to carry a book. This, to me at least, is ridiculous.

Thank you. This whole thing is just stupid on every level. Some people just want to read thing into every situation if it is there or not. A man is a womanizer - secretly gay. A man puts his arm around another man - secretly gay. A man shows a little compasion to another man if he is dying or hurt - totally gay. Certain people see it in almsot every situation more so because they want it to be there than if it is actually meant that way.

[Matternativ]

I always kinda read Laura Kinney as bisexual especially after her bonding with Jubilee, so yeah: She's my pick.

I'm kinda surprised that Tony Stark and T'halla are so high up there on the poll.

[butterflykyss]

*cough*Johnny Storm as bi*cough*
http://community.comicbookresources....Storm-bisexual

him and or gambit would work for me.

oh and manifold. yum.

[Dum Dum Dugan]

Thank you. This whole thing is just stupid on every level. Some people just want to read thing into every situation if it is there or not. A man is a womanizer - secretly gay. A man puts his arm around another man - secretly gay. A man shows a little compasion to another man if he is dying or hurt - totally gay. Certain people see it in almsot every situation more so because they want it to be there than if it is actually meant that way.

A man makes breakfast for the man he's living with while he's practically naked - totally straight.

[Alan2099]

Thank you. This whole thing is just stupid on every level. Some people just want to read thing into every situation if it is there or not. A man is a womanizer - secretly gay. A man puts his arm around another man - secretly gay. A man shows a little compasion to another man if he is dying or hurt - totally gay. Certain people see it in almsot every situation more so because they want it to be there than if it is actually meant that way.

And if he DOESN'T do any of that, then he's OBVIOUSLY gay.

[legion_quest]

Johnny just cooking in his briefs for Peter, and Peter's reactions through it all, is hilarious.

They even had an adopted kid in lil'Annihilus!

[Crimz]

A man makes breakfast for the man he's living with while he's practically naked - totally straight.

Yeah how very straight of him....

[stingray]

A man makes breakfast for the man he's living with while he's practically naked - totally straight.

So you've never played sports and been in a locker room with a bunch of naked guys before? Doesn't make team mates gay, does it? Guys can see each other without clothing on without wanting to have sex with them. Seriously.