DC LGBTQ+ characters 2022 appreciation

[J. D. Guy]

Connor Hawke, Green Arrow’s Son, Is Officially Asexual in DC Pride 2022

A dream comes true!!! I'm a very happy person now!!!

After the specter of what Chuck Dixon had did, I'm happy to learn about this becoming a thing all these years later.

[Darkspellmaster]

I mean, hasn't Hal dated Aliens before this?

[Primal Slayer]

I mean, hasn't Hal dated Aliens before this?

Yes but those aliens have looked like "traditional" females. It's like Conner/M'gann in YJ, their entire relationship has been with her presenting as female even though she can shape shift into any sex.

[Frontier]

Yes but those aliens have looked like "traditional" females. It's like Conner/M'gann in YJ, their entire relationship has been with her presenting as female even though she can shape shift into any sex.

And I think they actually used her preferring her humanoid form to her normal White Martian form as a commentary on assigned gender or presentation.

[sifighter]

Yeah it’s an interesting idea and there is an argument to be made for Hal Jordan, but yeah I got to agree with others who say it likely doesn’t count. Like is there really a good example of Hal dating an androgynous alien or one that can shift genders and him being fine with it?

Because otherwise it’s just a straight man in space trying to be a little exotic if you catch my drift. Kind of the same as Captain Kirk. If they introduce in the future evidence or an attempt at it that’d be fine but for now I’m personally not counting Hal Jordan.

[TheCasualReader]

Yes but those aliens have looked like "traditional" females. It's like Conner/M'gann in YJ, their entire relationship has been with her presenting as female even though she can shape shift into any sex.

Jonathan Frakes even criticized "The Outcast" in 1992 because Riker's agendered alien love interest was played by a woman when it would have been more fitting and bolder to have Soren be played by a man. Every member of Soren's race is played by a female actor, they have a female actor play Soren and Soren identifies as female.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160303...6/30/gay_trek/

And I think they actually used her preferring her humanoid form to her normal White Martian form as a commentary on assigned gender or presentation.

Which I felt was kind of weird since M'gann is biologically female and she identifies as female. I always felt it would work better as cultural identity, not gender identity. Transculturalism, not transgender. When you view it in less straightforward way, it becomes more analogue to transracialism than trans.

M'gann lived a very hard life on Mars where she was made to feel like she didn't belong, then she fled to Earth (making her an immigrant) where she had the acceptance to learn to be comfortable with herself and develop as a person. She feels a greater sense of belonging on Earth than she does Mars and she has a found family. However, it's not like she rejects being Martian: she still loves her family and parts of the culture. She's excited to perform the traditional rituals with her family and wants to have a Martian wedding. M'gann's chosen form reflects her cultural identity: it's a mix between human and white Martian.

I get what the writers were going for. I just didn't think it worked (for me, I should stress. I know it resonated with others) and there are better ways to give a nod to gender identity (ex. Halo) I have always had a preference for straight-up representation rather than, for lack of better words, hide-behind representation where writers either mince words or make it fantastical instead of just real-life.

[Confuzzled]

Yeah it’s an interesting idea and there is an argument to be made for Hal Jordan, but yeah I got to agree with others who say it likely doesn’t count. Like is there really a good example of Hal dating an androgynous alien or one that can shift genders and him being fine with it?

Because otherwise it’s just a straight man in space trying to be a little exotic if you catch my drift. Kind of the same as Captain Kirk. If they introduce in the future evidence or an attempt at it that’d be fine but for now I’m personally not counting Hal Jordan.

TBF there's no hetero explanation for this lol

[sifighter]

TBF there's no hetero explanation for this lol

That is fair, I just meant like regular Hal Jordan stories over the decades. Half the time I forget that moment honestly.

Honestly if they decide to do something in the future like they did recently with Tim Drake that’s perfectly acceptable by me, I’m just going off current existing evidence.

[thefinalguy]

All the recent coming-outs really make me wonder what characters would be radically different if comics originated today.

As much flack as it gets I do think character shifts like Connor Hawke being asexual, Tim Drake, and Wonder Woman being bisexual make perfect sense under modern pretenses.

[Confuzzled]

All the recent coming-outs really make me wonder what characters would be radically different if comics originated today.

As much flack as it gets I do think character shifts like Connor Hawke being asexual, Tim Drake, and Wonder Woman being bisexual make perfect sense under modern pretenses.

Diana came in a glass closet right from her creation Agreed about Connor as well.

The Tim one is the most random to me coz it smells a bit of 'Tim is the least unique of the Robins so let's make him queer'. YMMV but it seems trite to me as the male Robins now go: The First Son, The Lost Son, The Queer Son and The Real Son. Honestly, I think Tim wouldn't have been revealed as bi if he hadn't been a decades old character overshadowed by the rest of the Bat-family.

Now, Dick is another story. If it hadn't been for the Comics Code or McCarthyism in the 50's, I think one of the writers who freaked out Frederic Wertham would have made Dick bi or queer in canon. But of course, that's a huge hypothesis which considers an American culture that is nothing like real world mid-20th Century American culture.

I think Devin Grayson would have canonized Dick as bi in the early 00's if she had been given the allowance.

[The Invincible Beawulf]

Earth-Prime #3: Legends of Tomorrow

https://aiptcomics.com/2022/04/29/dc...s-of-tomorrow/

Sara Lance/White Canary will appear in this issue. There's a spoilers article on BC & she's in a few panels: https://bleedingcool.com/comics/dc-r...erse-spoilers/

[The Invincible Beawulf]

"DC Pride 2022, Delayed A Week, New Jen Bartel Card Cover & Previews"

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/dc-p...over-previews/

[j9ac9k]

Why do Connor and Jon suddenly have similar "flowing top-locks, short sides" haircuts as soon as they're meant to represent LGBTQIA? It's like the overuse of the female shaved-side cut. It makes me wary the creators are just going with surface level representation. Isn't the point of the 21st century that we can be explicit with characters' identity without relying on aesthetic coding methods of the past? Or is it representative of the limited talent pool DC employs working on these comics?... Or am I overthinking it?

[Confuzzled]

Why do Connor and Jon suddenly have similar "flowing top-locks, short sides" haircuts as soon as they're meant to represent LGBTQIA? It's like the overuse of the female shaved-side cut. It makes me wary the creators are just going with surface level representation. Isn't the point of the 21st century that we can be explicit with characters' identity without relying on aesthetic coding methods of the past? Or is it representative of the limited talent pool DC employs working on these comics?... Or am I overthinking it?

It's a popular Gen Z/younger Millennial hairstyle. Tim didn't get that cut when he came out so I think you're overthinking it.

[J. D. Guy]

It's a popular Gen Z/younger Millennial hairstyle. Tim didn't get that cut when he came out so I think you're overthinking it.

This. It's just a fashionable hairstyle for some demographics of Gen Zs and younger Millennials.