Are gay people properly represented In comic's

If you believe so please give "Positive" examples of strong gay comic  protagonist.

no more then blacks, asians, and the various other brown people and foreign europeans that are not american.... umm.. no.

no more then blacks, asians, and the various other brown people.... umm.. no.

I've always thought the Pied Piper from Flash's rogue gallery was a somewhat accurate representation of an average gay person, but I'm no expert so I can't say for certain.

@Dracade102 said:

I've always thought the Pied Piper from Flash's rogue gallery was a somewhat accurate representation of an average gay person, but I'm no expert so I can't say for certain.

I completely agree with you on this one

It would be nice if diverse characters were represented properly however on the top of my head I can't think of any that are.

what about Midnighter and Apollo?  O_o

what about Midnighter and Apollo?  O_o

seriously the only one i can think of that might be slightly positive is Batwoman due to how much female readers tell me how great she is. =)

I also wanted to ask Is poison Ivy gay?

seriously the only one i can think of that might be slightly positive is Batwoman due to how much female readers tell me how great she is. =)

There's Batwoman, and Renee Montoya. I think Northstar(or is it Aurora) from Alpha Flight is gay. And Scandal and Knockout from Secret Six.

I also wanted to ask Is poison Ivy gay?

I've always thought the Pied Piper from Flash's rogue gallery was a somewhat accurate representation of an average gay person, but I'm no expert so I can't say for certain.

I don't particularly care if someone's gay or not. You claim you don't want in your face declarations of homosexuality, but then what do you want?
 
If you're not gonna make a big deal out of it, why even mention it? It doesn't define the character, so why highlight it? The same applies to hetero relationships. I don't care who you're in a romance with. Nobody announces that they're hetero, why announce being gay? Treat it as perfectly normal and it will begin to be seen as perfectly normal. Being gay or straight doesn't drive a story, and considering that The X-Men are one giant metaphor for oppression for being different, I'd say they're represented well. Just like sufferers of racism are. Just not specifically.
 
If you don't want it announced, then I'm not sure what you do want. You want it drawn attention to, but you don't want it to define or be stereotypical. It's an odd complaint.
 
-The Mast

I also wanted to ask Is poison Ivy gay?

@utotheg38 said:

I also wanted to ask Is poison Ivy gay?

I don't think so but if you're referring to her relationship with Harley they're just best friends.

I don't particularly care if someone's gay or not. You claim you don't want in your face declarations of homosexuality, but then what do you want?  If you're not gonna make a big deal out of it, why even mention it? It doesn't define the character, so why highlight it? The same applies to hetero relationships. I don't care who you're in a romance with. Nobody announces that they're hetero, why announce being gay? Treat it as perfectly normal and it will begin to be seen as perfectly normal. Being gay or straight doesn't drive a story, and considering that The X-Men are one giant metaphor for oppression for being different, I'd say they're represented well. Just like sufferers of racism are. Just not specifically. If you don't want it announced, then I'm not sure what you do want. You want it someone drawn attention to, but you don't want it to define or be stereotypical. It's an odd complaint.  -The Mast

I will type up a long response to this soon, but the only one I think is a real great representation is Batwoman. 

I don't particularly care if someone's gay or not. You claim you don't want in your face declarations of homosexuality, but then what do you want?  If you're not gonna make a big deal out of it, why even mention it? It doesn't define the character, so why highlight it? The same applies to hetero relationships. I don't care who you're in a romance with. Nobody announces that they're hetero, why announce being gay? Treat it as perfectly normal and it will begin to be seen as perfectly normal. Being gay or straight doesn't drive a story, and considering that The X-Men are one giant metaphor for oppression for being different, I'd say they're represented well. Just like sufferers of racism are. Just not specifically. If you don't want it announced, then I'm not sure what you do want. You want it someone drawn attention to, but you don't want it to define or be stereotypical. It's an odd complaint.  -The Mast

@utotheg38 said:

I also wanted to ask Is poison Ivy gay?

I don't think so but if you're referring to her relationship with Harley they're just best friends.

 
@Samimista said:

@utotheg38 said:

I also wanted to ask Is poison Ivy gay?

I don't think so but if you're referring to her relationship with Harley they're just best friends.

Best friend as a euphemism, right?  >_> cause they seem pretty cozy to me, not saying they are gay but at least possible that they are bi-curious. if a writer wanted to make it so i would buy it as a natural progression of their relationship.

The only DC hero I know that is gay is Obsidian but they don't really talk about his love life much. He is hardly in any comics now that I read or know of but I doubt it's because he is gay. So is he properly represented in comics, I would say yes to some extent in regards to that they told us he is gay and continued on with him being a superhero.

Batwoman's origin hinges upon her sexuality but her stories have little to do with it. I think that the sexuality of a character should make little difference in their ability as a hero.
 
Batwoman is about a gay woman, not about being gay. I think that's the perfect representation of a homosexual person in any medium.

The only DC hero I know that is gay is Obsidian but they don't really talk about his love life much. He is hardly in any comics now that I read or know of but I doubt it's because he is gay. So is he properly represented in comics, I would say yes to some extent in regards to that they told us he is gay and continued on with him being a superhero.

@DCVibe said:

The only DC hero I know that is gay is Obsidian but they don't really talk about his love life much. He is hardly in any comics now that I read or know of but I doubt it's because he is gay. So is he properly represented in comics, I would say yes to some extent in regards to that they told us he is gay and continued on with him being a superhero.

DC Comics hates gay people! :(

@DCVibe said:

The only DC hero I know that is gay is Obsidian but they don't really talk about his love life much. He is hardly in any comics now that I read or know of but I doubt it's because he is gay. So is he properly represented in comics, I would say yes to some extent in regards to that they told us he is gay and continued on with him being a superhero.

DC Comics hates gay people! :(

I dont think DC hates homosexual characters. i think that is one of the good things about DC that they have over Marvel.

If you believe so please give "Positive" examples of strong gay comic  protagonist.

Midnighter. bad ass gay guy who can kick anyone's ass.

I don't particularly care if someone's gay or not. You claim you don't want in your face declarations of homosexuality, but then what do you want?  If you're not gonna make a big deal out of it, why even mention it? It doesn't define the character, so why highlight it? The same applies to hetero relationships. I don't care who you're in a romance with. Nobody announces that they're hetero, why announce being gay? Treat it as perfectly normal and it will begin to be seen as perfectly normal.  Just like sufferers of racism are. Just not specifically. If you don't want it announced, then I'm not sure what you do want. You want it drawn attention to, but you don't want it to define or be stereotypical. It's an odd complaint.  -The Mast

Northstar
Karma
Anole
Moondragon
Beast from Exiles volume 3
Wiccan
Hulkling

One in five million homosexuals are exposed to radiation, toxic waste, electrical storms, cosmic energies and magic every year. One out of seven homosexual superheroes come out of the closet. They're usually the best representatives.

@The Mast: By your logic any character will have absolutely no personal life in comics. Most comics are filled with romance and other mundane, everyday things. Do you just skip to the action panels?

I only see gay characters under represent in the dc universe, like can we get a gay kryptonite, a gay lantern, or just something a bit iconic not a floating in the back ground type of character
 
in the marvel world we have wiccan hulking, anole, northstar, moon dragon, and the list goes on
 
but atleast my husbands midnighter and apollo are coming over to dc =D

@Agent9149: Your husband has good taste. Midnighter is much more interesting than most of the heroes in DC, like all of Batman Inc.

Edit: And I misread that. I had no idea Midnighter married you.

@The Mast said:

I don't particularly care if someone's gay or not. You claim you don't want in your face declarations of homosexuality, but then what do you want?  If you're not gonna make a big deal out of it, why even mention it? It doesn't define the character, so why highlight it? The same applies to hetero relationships. I don't care who you're in a romance with. Nobody announces that they're hetero, why announce being gay? Treat it as perfectly normal and it will begin to be seen as perfectly normal.  Just like sufferers of racism are. Just not specifically. If you don't want it announced, then I'm not sure what you do want. You want it drawn attention to, but you don't want it to define or be stereotypical. It's an odd complaint.  -The Mast

I deleted the part that was relevant to comic book characters, as this part is just a declaration to LGBT persons themselves, and then some. Well you see Mast despite this train of old thought, most people whom are considered counter-cultured tend to declare who they actually are because is most cases what they are being told by others that it's okay to be who they are, just not to say they are (in other words act/pretend to be straight), hence this in itself is the oppression they face and the declaration the fight and against it. In a right world people should be able to be accepted for who they are, not be made to feel that they need to hide who they are.   * FYI: people announce that they are hetero all the time, particular homophobic heterosexuals. --- As for the question at hand I can't think that the community really is, though the Prism list disputes this. I'll say by my experience in cases where I have seen LGBT persons represented they seemed fairly done as such, just rarely they are represented out in front as themselves. (clarified)

Depends how you define properly represented? You need to give a base example. I mean, this is comics, this is also entertainment and fiction. Your average person by default is not properly represented in comics like most forms of media, even the news. Or they are. Depends, Depends on what characteristics you are looking at. Depends on who is looking. Depends on what values and characteristics you are using you discretion to assign value enough to worth mentioning, highlighting or emphasizing.  
 
The other thing, is asking if people are fairly represented in comics? Well everyone knows that that is such a broad overgeneralized question. So many different types of people in real life and in comics. About 7 Billion people in real life, comics... lets say about 10 thousand characters? Of course... problem there is a lot, well almost all those characters are very minor one off characters. No creator probably decides their sexual inclination, or their middle name, or whether their belly button is a inny or a outty. Now, of course, there is a much small grouping of gay characters. Probably enough to make a list even. Those characters surprise, surprise are going to differ. Which is good, since in real life, gay people are like all people, in that we differ. Some people. So how do you represent so many different people with one character? You don't. You represent them with a few characters. The more characters you have, the better representation you have. So are gay people properly represented in comics? I'd say it depends. I think we have lots of great gay characters. Like with all characters generally though, I wish they could be written a bit better, and used a bit more, and used a bit more creatively, and that some are underused and or I'd love to see more.  
  
Good examples, I would cite, and I'll include bisexual characters as well, because otherwise, my head will hurt trying to remember specifics, Shatterstar, Rictor, Batwoman, Daken, Apollo, Midnighter, Mystique and Destiny, Hulking, Wiccan, Northstar, Anole, Scandal, Willow, Tara, Kennedy, Karolina, Xavin. Danille Baptiste. THere are more. 

As there are as many types of people as there are grains of sand on a beach. How do you know what properly representing means? There are gay republicans that pretend to hate gay people to the most flamboyant gay person who dresses in burlesque. Comics should not further a movement but portray a hero or person.

I've seen alot of mention of people saying Northstar's a good example of being fairly represented or whatever...but they forget he's been killed so many times by major protagonists that its unfair... i cant speak for DC LGBT characters, because i rarely read DC..but Rictor and ShatterStar, theyre not treated too badly and are represented nicely.. Daken (one of my favorites) makes bisexuals look cruel and vindictive..which we're not...not all of us anyway haha but he also adds a bit of edge, and strength to the LGBT community in the marvel universe. Hulking and Wiccan..best couple around, and although they're represented fairly and all that...we're yet to see a kiss?!..we've seen all the other young avengers kiss, but not yet Wiccan and Hulking!..as a whole i'd day LGBT community in marvel comics isn't too bad..there could be a few more LGBT characters and room for improvement, but then it'd seem like they're trying too hard to tip toe around hurting our feelings when heterosexual heroes get treated pretty crappy all the time. so yeah we're good in my opinion lol

I'm adding a few to my earlier list. 

1. Northstar
2.  Karma 
3.  Anole 
4.  Moondragon 
5.  Beast from Exiles volume 3 
6. Sunfire from Exiles
7. Spider-woman from Exiles
8.  Wiccan 
9.  Hulkling
10. Rictor
    
11. Shatterstar
12. Karolina Dean
    

Are there some sort of guidelines for proper representation?  Do we need to get a Comic's Code style sanctioning body, complete with stamp, to let us know that homosexual characters contained within a comic book meet special representation standards?
 
Or are homosexuals just as varied as any other human being on the planet to allow for a wide range of character behaviors and backgrounds?

@MrMiracle77: Beats me. I figured it for another "are there enough gay superheroes" thread before I clicked on it.

@CATPANEXE said:

@The Mast said:

I don't particularly care if someone's gay or not. You claim you don't want in your face declarations of homosexuality, but then what do you want?  If you're not gonna make a big deal out of it, why even mention it? It doesn't define the character, so why highlight it? The same applies to hetero relationships. I don't care who you're in a romance with. Nobody announces that they're hetero, why announce being gay? Treat it as perfectly normal and it will begin to be seen as perfectly normal.  Just like sufferers of racism are. Just not specifically. If you don't want it announced, then I'm not sure what you do want. You want it drawn attention to, but you don't want it to define or be stereotypical. It's an odd complaint.  -The Mast

I deleted the part that was relevant to comic book characters, as this part is just a declaration to LGBT persons themselves, and then some. Well you see Mast despite this train of old thought, most people whom are considered counter-cultured tend to declare who they actually are because is most cases what they are being told by others that it's okay to be who they are, just not to say they are (in other words act/pretend to be straight), hence this in itself is the oppression they face and the declaration the fight and against it. In a right world people should be able to be accepted for who they are, not be made to feel that they need to hide who they are.   * FYI: people announce that they are hetero all the time, particular homophobic heterosexuals. --- As for the question at hand I can't think that the community really is, though the Prism list disputes this. I'll say by my experience in cases where I have seen LGBT persons represented they seemed fairly done as such, just rarely they are represented out in front as themselves. (clarified)

My point was that there is no reason in life why who you date should matter to anybody. Yes, romance stories will occur and you will have to touch on the sexuality, but in LIFE? It shouldn't matter. People should not feel obligated to write stories that specifically focus on a romance JUST to show it as a homosexual one. That's positive discrimination.  Who someone sleeps with is of so little importance that there should be no need to announce it, hetero or otherwise. Homosexual people should not have to "come out", because it shouldn't matter. I'm not talking about hiding your homosexuality, I'm talking about it being pointless to promote ANY sexuality. Why does it need to be? If a story comes up whereby romance is a topic, or the main theme, then decide whether or not to make them straight, homosexual or bisexual. I don't care what they are.  The point is, I really don't care. The more gay pride marches there are with men or women walking around in flamboyant and over-the-top outfits (Which is entirely fine, and I support it), the more there's going to be a society who identifies homosexual people as something entirely different to straight people, and borderline stereotypical. Just like Morgan Freeman said about black history month, "My history is American history. I'm gonna stop calling you white, you stop calling me black. I'm Morgan Freeman. That's all." If people don't want to be identified by who they sleep with or love, but by their character, then announcing it should stop. Nobody comes out as hetero, not typically, and it's not seen as a big deal. If people just be who they are inside, freely and proudly, but without acting like it makes them different, then the world will be better off. That's all I'm saying. I don't see "homosexual" or "heterosexual", I see man or woman. I don't give a crap. If someone wants to have a gay character, cool. If not, cool. The point is, it should matter so little to anyone that this discussion becomes moot.  To keep bringing it up is to simply highlight a difference that doesn't matter. I fully support L.G.B.T. rights, I am puzzled by homophobia and all of that. However, I have also known so many homosexual people with persecution complexes. I've known gay or lesbian people who hate it if you so much as ignore their sexual preference. I don't ignore, but I don't care. Hetero or not, I really don't. Who someone loves or sleeps with is so far down on character priority that I could bore myself to death talking about it. I don't care if homosexuality is or is not in my comics. Could there be a more realistic amount of homosexual characters in comics? Absolutely. The same applies to ethnicity. The point I'm making is that if you start sacrificing what a writer WANTS to do, creatively, in favour of filling a quota, then that's stupid.  -The Mast

@Timandm: Yeah your absolutely right...hence why i wrote "it'd seem like they're trying too hard to tip toe around hurting our feelings when heterosexual heroes get treated pretty crappy all the time." towards the end..im all for treating gay characters equal to their hetero team members.. i don't know.. I just hate it when Northstar dies because he's one of my favorites.

There are plenty of positive representations of gay people in comics, and that number is on the rise. However, I consider Renee Montoya and Batwoman to be the most fully-fleshed out gay characters in comics. 
 
Other popular gay characters would include Scandal Savage, Knockout, Apollo, Midnighter, Wiccan, Hulkling, and Karolina Dean. :) 
 
check here for a more complete list.

@The Mast said:

I don't particularly care if someone's gay or not. You claim you don't want in your face declarations of homosexuality, but then what do you want?  If you're not gonna make a big deal out of it, why even mention it? It doesn't define the character, so why highlight it? The same applies to hetero relationships. I don't care who you're in a romance with. Nobody announces that they're hetero, why announce being gay? Treat it as perfectly normal and it will begin to be seen as perfectly normal.  Just like sufferers of racism are. Just not specifically. If you don't want it announced, then I'm not sure what you do want. You want it drawn attention to, but you don't want it to define or be stereotypical. It's an odd complaint.  -The Mast

I deleted the part that was relevant to comic book characters, as this part is just a declaration to LGBT persons themselves, and then some. Well you see Mast despite this train of old thought, most people whom are considered counter-cultured tend to declare who they actually are because is most cases what they are being told by others that it's okay to be who they are, just not to say they are (in other words act/pretend to be straight), hence this in itself is the oppression they face and the declaration the fight and against it. In a right world people should be able to be accepted for who they are, not be made to feel that they need to hide who they are.   * FYI: people announce that they are hetero all the time, particular homophobic heterosexuals. --- As for the question at hand I can't think that the community really is, though the Prism list disputes this. I'll say by my experience in cases where I have seen LGBT persons represented they seemed fairly done as such, just rarely they are represented out in front as themselves. (clarified)