LGBTQ Roll Call

[neo_prodigy]

With June being LGBTQ Pride, I couldn't think of a better time to do a Roll Call celebrating exceptional LGBTQ characters in comics.


While there have been a number of LGBTQ characters, most of them at best have been relegated to minor characters and at worst deplorable homophobic queer minstrel shows.
And don't get it conflated.

Visibility is not progress.

If it were then the Rawhide Kid and Northstar would be progressive trailblazing characters.

 So no, this isn't just my list of queer comic characters.

This is a salute to the elite characters who have provided me with a more than a few OH HELL YEAH! moments.
A list of characters and made me proud to be a comic book geek and an LGBTQ.

Also, if you haven't already, feel free to check out my recent post on No_Scans discussing Queer Tropes to better understand where I'm coming from on this.


That being said: ROLL CALL!!!!!!!

 

Batwoman










Jack Harkness










Ianto Jones










The Question (Renee Montoya)











Ozymandias




Black Cat



Daken



Destiny



Mystique




Rictor & Shatterstar 

 


 

 



And by the by: The Greeks/Romans/Spartans were like TOTALLY GAY!!!!! (nsfw)


Victoria Hand





Richie Foley/Gear









Dani Baptiste





Tim Gunn

He's awesome and must therefore be included.



Catwoman (Holly Robinson)



Lafayette Reynolds



Scandal Savage



Hulkling



Karolina Dean



Wiccan



HE"S GAY HONEY!!!! Stop trying to recruit. Straight people: Always trying to push their heterosexual agenda on us God-fearing gays. ;D




Xavin







Achilles







DAYUM is my boyfriend sexy!!!!

Go ahead. It's okay to look.

THAT"S CLOSE ENOUGH.

I'm gonna need you to back away from my man, right the hell now.

Satsu













(Ultimate) Colossus









Not sure if the live-action movie version featured 616 Colossus or Ultimate Colossus.

It really doesn't matter because you're a fool if you think I"m about to pass up a chance to partake in some Grade-A beefcake like one Daniel Cudmore.








Willow Rosenberg

















Tara MaClay













John Constantine







Xena






The Midnighter



Apollo & The Midnighter







Now, I'm willing to bet there are some gems out there that myself and others may not be aware of and/or should (re)consider checking out.

So if you have any recommendations of awesome exceptional prominent LGBTQ characters in comics then by all means, sharing is caring. Please post them away in the comments.

 

Comments

[zemo]

John Constantine is gay? Now would you look at that.

[rattsu]

Well, technically Bi, but hey, that's alright too!

[rattsu]

I always loved Lord Fanny, from the Invisibles...

Also, not sure if it's me, but 1: most pictures don't show up. and 2: Please, please, why not pictures of comic book JC instead of the movie one?

[nezchan]

Because how else would you convey his wide range of emotions?

[nezchan]

That's a lotta broken images. And why the film stills when we're focused on the comics they came from?

Come to think of it, I can't think of very many...or even any role-model worthy T characters from the LBGTQ acronym in comics. Although I've experienced how in Real Life (tm) a lot of the LG would be happier not thinking about the B and the T parts.

[rattsu]

Oh tell me about it... *groans*. At least the B problems I've got firsthand experience from.

[pyrotwilight]

Ozymandias? I don't think he's ever been officially been said to be Gay or Bisexual.

Black Cat? Similar here, I think.

I guess if you want to include Ozymandias you could always include Triumph (supposedly going to be gay). Element Lad (gay for Brainy) and Shrinking Violet (lesbian I think). Ironic these three were supposed to be "gay/lesbian" but never actually stated as such.

[joasakura]

Invisible Lad gay for Brainy. Element Lad gay for, well Sean Erin (nee Shvaughn Erin) :D

[flidgetjerome]

Y'know, I'd have to disagree that Jack Harkness is a trailblazer. He confirms so firmly to the "anything that moves" stereotype of bisexuals that he's the poster-boy up on the TV Tropes page.

[nezchan]

Same applies to Daken, doesn't it?

[joasakura]

apropos of nothing, and I know it's not a comic scan, but that is one very, very badass pic of Ianto. *_*

[theanswer]

Isn't it MC2 Black Cat that is a lesbian?

[shanejayell]

Canon she's bi, according to Kevin Smith.

[abbadie]

The Daughters of the Dragon are missing. And Yuriko.

[neo_prodigy]

wait? WHAT?!!!!!!!

DO TELL!!!!!!!

[icon_uk]

When was Rich Foley/Gear stated to be gay?

Ianto Jones? Really? Why? He's gay for Jack Harkness, but is otherwise straight (confirmed in Children of Earth), so, fair enough, bisexual, but as a character he was diabolical, no personality worth mentioning, his suits had more character than he had, and seemed to, eventually, spend most of his time as Jack's arm candy. Then he died, mostly due to Jack's arrogance and Torchwoods usual cosmic level ineptness.

[theanswer]

Doesn't Jack's futuristic hormones also make otherwise straight men attracted to him?

[shadowpsykie]

ummm NORTHSTAR! the Poster boy for gays in comics :)

now i must say, those Ianto scans (holding gun on shoulder, and holding Jack) are very pretty, it shows his strong yet sensitive side) oh ianto :(

[shadowpsykie]

oh also must not forget

Anole
Obsidian
Damon

[katzedecimal]

Well I am mortified that you have included quite a number of ambiguous characters but have omitted the man who arguably THE milestone for homosexual characters in comics, having had the most sensitively-handled coming-out scenes ever, as well as one of the most poignant love stories. How dare you forget the Flash's formidable foe, the hero to the homeless, the Sultan of Sound, the Maestro of Malevolence (only if your name is Mirror Master or DeSaad...)
The Pied Piper!

[joasakura]

THIS. =D

[ravenous_raven]

Who is Satsu? She looks like an interesting character.

[shanejayell]

She's from Buffy season eight. Not bad, tho she coulda used more character development.

[dorksidefiker]

Too early in the morning for me to be listing characters for this (which is sadly and curiously lacking in the presence of Anole), but I don't think we're allowed to have most of those Rictor/Shaterstar pictures, what with He Who Must Not Be Posted and all.

[crabby_lioness]

Can we get over that? I'm underwhelmed with the arguement that it was his fault we got TOSSed. He said he didn't call for it, and LJ is notorious for TOSSing accounts at the slightest whiff of controversy.

[auggie18]

Don't forget Thunder and Grace! Or X-men: First Class's Marvel Girl and the Scarlet Witch! (Okay, maybe not an official couple. But their "date" was so adorable! And they hold hands all the time!)

This came just in time, I'm re-re-reading Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe.

[stubbleupdate]

Add in Dave Wylie's brother. He's a firefighter.

[neo_prodigy]

Thanks for the tip.

[crabby_lioness]

Don't disrespect Northstar. The fact that he was handled ineptly doesn't stop him from being the first publicly out gay superhero. He may have tripped and broke the tape with a prat-fall, but he still was the first person across the finish line.

[neo_prodigy]

And Amos and Andy were the first blacks on tv but telling black folks to be thankful for that racist shucking and jiving tripe is the same as telling me to be grateful for that gay minstrel show. Visibility is not progress.

[greenmask]

Daken? Really? Have we ever seen him show sexual interest in someone without having an eeeevil motivation for it?

Scans certainly haven't shown it, unless I missed a big post.

[darkblade]

Well he hasn't really shown interest of any sort in anything that didn't have an EVIL motive.

[grazzt]

I'm curious as to why you included Ozymandias (who was never explicitly stated to be gay), but not Hooded Justice, Captain Metropolis, or the Silhouette (who actually were)?

[darkblade]

Because all three of them were dead before the story even started.

[unicornicopia]

It really doesn't matter because you're a fool if you think I"m about to pass up a chance to partake in some Grade-A beefcake like one Daniel Cudmore.

I lol'd heartily.

Fantastic list!

[neo_prodigy]

LOL! Thank you. ;D

[werehawk.livejournal.com]

Sarah Rainmaker from Gen 13 is missing in addition to others mentioned (Northstar!)

[stolisomancer.insanejournal.com]

Given some of his rationale for leaving certain characters off of the list, I can understand omitting Sarah. Her sexuality shifts dramatically from writing team to writing team, and Adam Warren was the only guy who ever made her fairly well-balanced.

[darkblade]

I'm sorry but you seem to have pictures of Keanu Reeves under John Constatine. The man in that movie was not John Constatine, they didn't even pronounce his name the same way.

[neo_prodigy]

wait there was a plot to the movie?

*scratches head*

[thebigapricot]

Don't forget Thunder, Grace Choi, Maggie Sawyer and Knockout.

[neo_prodigy]

Have Thunder and Grace been featured in any other story arcs aside from Outsiders. I really liked them but they were so poorly handled in that run. It was ridiculous.

[midnightdash.livejournal.com]

Frenchie from the Moon Knight title is kind of amazingly badass and has a canonical boyfriend in that.

[darkknightjrk]

Yep--and his boyfriend was also had a bit of "queen" in him, but still a great, well-rounded character.

[felinephoenix]

Lightspeed (the older, Runaways/Loners version) comes to mind. I'd say that Angel and Spike might count as bi, having slept with each other, but since it was kind a throwaway gag, I'm not sure.

Oh, and I've got some scans of MC2!Felicia with her partner if you want to add them.

[neo_prodigy]

yeah bring em on!!!!! thanks. ;D

[icon_uk]

Willow might also be debatable, since yes, she came out as a lesbian, but fell into the "My girlfriend of minimal actual personality beyond being my girlfirend has been killed, I will go insane and destroy the universe because I'm that unstable" trope.... if that actually qualifies as a trope.

[auggie18]

Um, gonna have to disagree about Tara being personality-less. Just because she was shy doesn't mean she didn't have a personality. There was a whole episode about that (Family) that actually explored the fact that Buffy's friends didn't know much about her outside of her being Willow's girlfriend. A lot of Tara's story was about her coming out of her shell and becoming a stronger person, which was explored with her growing friendship with Buffy.