Recently, it had been leaked that DC Comics would be changing the sexuality of one of their oldest characters. The internet was abuzz on speculations on which of the spandex-clad would come out of the closet to have it [potentially] revealed to be... Alan Scott, the Green Lantern from the 40's! And for those who have no idea who that is, (no, it isn't the Green Lantern portrayed in the recent film) don't worry: those of us who do know are equally underwhelmed by the decision.
Following the legalization of gay marriage in New York, along with President Obama's recent public support of gay marriage, both DC Comics and Marvel Comics have jumped on the bandwagon by presenting stories featuring/revealing homosexual heroes. Keep in mind that while these are obvious PR moves, realize that ALL superhero comics are PR moves. What I want to address is what will these story lines do for anyone beyond its face value.
In Marvel's Uncanny X-Force their longtime outed-hero 'Northstar', will have a full-fledged wedding within the pages with his new-but-described-as-longtime lover. (It should be noted marriages in the Marvel Universe usually result in disaster, revision, or at the least, ending all romantic stories involving the characters and thus limiting any story that could be told about them.) So, gay marriage is explicitly address and honored in the Marvel Universe; good for them, if not a little late on being groundbreaking.
As aforementioned, DC Comics will be making Alan Scott, Green Lantern, gay. There is no word yet as to what kind of story will reveal his homosexuality, but one can only hope that it won't be the standard tragedy that often mars such tales. Like Marvel, I say good on them: there can always be more heroes which non-hetero-normative readers can relate to. But he's not exactly a leading role type character, and he's not exactly young.
So here's where it always gets tricky when you make such a big deal about a characters (new) sexuality: where do you go beyond that? It's like if you bought a really big diamond and at first you show it off at all your galas and balls and everyone says "Wow, that's shiny, that's impressive!" And for a moment that diamond is the focus of all your wardrobe. But you can't wear it out everywhere, nor really much at all. So it goes back into the vault. Everyone knows you have it, but it loses its impressiveness, and all they can say about it is "yep, that's a big diamond."
If you're using sexuality in a story as a 'look-at-me' moment, that's all it will be. Northstar probably won't have many stories of him after this because there are very few of him before this. There may be a few writers who decide to make up stories about Alan Scott's homosexual liaisons in his past, but they won't go far because IN REAL LIFE he hasn't ever had them. In the latter's case, it's almost as if they just gave him a new costume... oh wait... and tried to make him more relevant based on adventures of how he got his new duds.
Of course, sexuality, and more specifically homosexuality can and does work in mainstream superhero comics. For example, DC character police officer-turned-Question, Renee Montoya, is openly lesbian. In a story line in Gotham Central where her sexuality is revealed and her fellow officers start to bully her about it, she deals with it effectively and honestly. Famously, when accused of 'making Montoya gay', author Greg Rucka replied that he didn't, that she was 'always gay'.
My point is this: though homophobia and bigotry still exist, though it'll be a long time, if ever, before homosexuality, bisexuality, and any other non-heterosexual orientations will be fully accepted, there are tactful ways of scripting these heroes so they have lasting and progressive careers as prominent influences in their respective universes, and there are ways to making them shiny baubles you pull out whenever you want a spike in sales.
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