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

[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)?

[crabby_lioness]

When there are other examples, visibility is not progress.

When there are no other examples, visibility is progress.

Context is everything.

[neo_prodigy]

When examples reinforce bigotry that isn't progress. And I have serious problem being told I should appreciate said racism and homophobia. This isn't about context this is about me having enough self respect as a gay man to demand better.

[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!

[werehawk.livejournal.com]

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

[crabby_lioness]

I'm sorry you feel that way. Goodness knows I get outraged often enough at the stereotypical portrayal of women, Pagans, and Southerners. However, the first time the invisible becomes visible it's always progress, even if it's couched in the inevitably biased language of the day.

Right now I'm showing my daughters examples of women and minorities in popular media, including comics, over the decades. I'm pointing out the first time that Negative Stereotype X is addressed, the first time Negative Stereotype Y is addressed, and that while the overall pictue still looks derogatory to our eyes these incremental steps (forex from "No Girls Allowed" to "The Token Girl" to "There Must Be Fewer Girls Than Boys" to "Runaways") were what laid the groundwork for the more well-rounded characters we see today.

[iambickilometer]

Well, Xavin could definitely be considered to be genderqueer of some kind, considering that they seem equally comfortable in a male human body or a female human body. But other than that, you're right about T characters, and it's a crying shame.

[ian_karkull]

No, I'm sorry, Neo is right. Visibility that only enforces bad stereotypes is just harmful. Northstar's career has been such a conflated, ugly mess of stereotyptes that it's really hard to see him as anything other than the Avatar of Straight Privilege.

[iambickilometer]

I don't know about Obsidian and Damon, but I'm fairly certain that Anole and Northstar have been left off of the list because while they are both gay, they conform to stereotypes and don't really show that gay characters can have more facets to their personalities than just being gay. At least, that was the impression I got from the Visibility is not progress piece he wrote.

[abbadie]

Yuriko practically told Storm how she was falling in love with her in an issue of X-Men back in the nineties, but I don't have it any more.

About Misty and Colleen, while it's never been shown plainly, it was made fairly obvious, in an early Xena/Gabrielle way. In the las few issues of Power Man/Iron Fist, Luke Cage quite plainly shook Colleen into admitting that she wasn't just mad at Misty cheating on the Fist, but she was jealous herself and it was "eating her up inside." And, c'mon, they were Claremont-written for a long while!

Which reminds me there was also Spectral, of the Strangers, an outright gay Ultraverse superhero (the poor guy was clumsily handled but hey, I have a soft spot for the Strangers). Then there was Mantra whom I'm not going to try to figure out whether s/he fits or not into this matter...

[darkblade]

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

[neuhallidae]

Wasn't Black Cat with a woman in MC2?

[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.

[neuhallidae]

F'in MOTTO.

[auggie18]

The X-men broke that last barrier first. For a while, in the eighties, I think, the X-men consisted of Storm, Dazzler, Psylocke, Rogue, Wolverine, and Longshot. Then Havok joined, but it was still 4-3.

[grazzt]

Fair enough, although there is some evidence that HJ and CM are still alive and together while the story is going on.

[shadowpsykie]

then Tim Gunn should be left off (the fashionable queen) because he is a stereo typica gay guy.

i dont think it is fair to exclude Northstar what ever anyone else may say, he might be stereo typical, but he's unapologetic about who he is. he is who he is, he kicks ass, and he makes no appologies about it. THAT takes balls

How does Anole conform to stereo types? he Kicked Santos ass for "accidently" calling him queer. He fought demons in hell and is currently there again to back up his friend (Pixie) Anole is anything BUT a Stereo type (and its the Maiming, hell EVERONE of the young x-men has been through shit, Pixie has apar of her sould missing, Laura is a mess, Prodigy lost his powers, Hellion lost his hands)

one would argue that They Killed off Ianto in a stereo typicical (WiR) fashion, to give Jack nothing else to lose, same thing for Tara. (though personally i am one of those who believe that in both cases it was for the furtherment of the story, and it made for good and heart breaking story telling)

while i am on the ball with the freedom ring character (the writer has appologized profusely for that and i am over it... mostly) i don't think that gay characters should be treated with kids gloves, or writers walk around on egg shells for them. Yeah they killed and brought back Northstar as evil, they also did that to wolverine, and Elektra. They took Anole's arm, well he was in hell and he kinda got off easy compared to some of the New X-Men. i could go on, and explain a few others... (there is absolutely no defending the decision to kill off Freedom Ring though... that was... yeah)

[galateus]

Dumbledore-level visibility is a pretty crappy excuse for representation.

[crabby_lioness]

Actually the New Mutants broke it first In fact, it wasn't until the team of Karma, Danielle, Wolfsbane, Magik, Sunspot, and Cannonball appeared that I first saw someone state that rule in writing as an objection to that team.

[iambickilometer]

I don't know most of the characters you're talking about -- have not read any recent X-Men stuff besides Nation X, not familiar with Freedom Ring. Never really felt much interest in Northstar. You'd have to take that up with Neo.

[auggie18]

Right! Forgot that they came first.

[shadowpsykie]

okay seriously? would you rather have had Dumbledore be a flaiming queen?

He was the greatest wizard of all time, NO ONE knew anything about his personal life until the final book. then they started revealing that stuff, anyone who read that book and DID NOT see that Dumbledore was in love With Grindelwald is dense. it does not need to be stated explicitly, especially since being gay does not define his character.

the same can be said for Gear. what defined him was that he was Virgil's best friend, and later his crime fighting partner. plus it was a Y7 tvshow? they did as much as was allowed ona show like that, and if you saw the show you could pick up on the subtext

[galateus]

LOL "I'm sorry you feel that way"

A+ fauxpology.

[shadowpsykie]

i don't see how Including Northstar would be bad. the way i see him, yes at times he has been written ineptly. but that does not change the fact that he is who he is, he is PROUD of who he is, and he makes no appologies for who and what he is. I would be proud to have Northstar as a role model.

[darkblade]

Hooded Justice was killed (Ozymandias suggested it was by the Comedian) in the 60s and one of Rorasach's Journal Entires in the first chapter mentions Captain Metropolis died in a car accident sometime before the story.