Can we get a main gay X-Man?

We need a new main character in the X-Men series. It would be nice to get a gay male X-Man, who is a main character and not just a "supporting" character.

@feelgood: I'd like to see them do more with Northstar in Amazing X-Men once Nightcrawler's story is over, if not before.

Northstar's one of my personal favorites, he's gay, and he hasn't been very central in the X-men despite being a member at least three times. I know he got some attention for his wedding a while back, but I was pretty hot and cold with that run. I'd way rather see him interacting more with the main team and the other X-men at the school than just being around now and again for missions. In my mind he's one of the classics and long overdue for a more central role.

mmmmmmmm I wonder who could it be? lol

Why? What difference would it make?

Well Wiccan is a mutant and gay, he is a main character but he is treated as an Avenger sadly...

He also despise Mutants. Something to do with heritage. :p

Now really, Northstar is not a main X-men ? :(

When did he say he despise mutants? Really i don´t remember

Why does he have to be gay? Why should that be focused on? I dont understand all this. We dont have a main African American Xman or Native American one. Maybe we should get that first

Mystique is a major player in the X-Men, perhaps not recently but she has been throughout history, she is bisexual.

Shatterstar is homosexual

Morrison attempted to suggest Beast was gay, before fans went bonkers.

Karma is homosexual

Anole is homosexual

@cattlebattle: I don't think Shatterstar favors one gender over another. He is just as likely to have sex with women as he is men. It caused friction early in his relationship with Rictor if I remember correctly.

Yeah, you're right. If I remember the whole thing was more perched on Shatterstar, being a creation from an alternate plain of existence, didn't understand human emotions and the way humans have standards that dictate relationships, he wanted an open relationship or something to that effect. Shatterstar didn't understand what it was to be homosexual or what societies views of it was, all he understood was the he loved Rictor. It was a really intelligent commentary on the perceptions of homosexuality in a lot of ways. Rictor would get pissed he didn't reciprocate the want for an exclusive relationship

Yeah I agree. This moment was just one of many moments in the series that made it so enjoyable.

I really didn't give a crap about Richter or Shatterstar before Peter David wrote them; but even before he introduced the idea of them being lovers he made me a fan of both, which made everything that happened between them that much cooler and more poignant. Definitely one of his many triumphs with that book.

I know there are gay X-Men, but none of them are "main" characters.

But maybe in the future Anole will be made into a main character? Hopefully.

Well, it depends on what series. If you are talking about "New X-Men" Anole was definitely a main character

Dang it Bobby.

That boy ain't right.

BB

They should bring Karma back into a big title... I miss that character.

I'm confused, New Mutants, and X-Factor weren't all that long ago and they had central characters that were homosexual and handled well. Northstar's relationship was a major part of Astonishing X-Men and Psylocke appears to be bisexual....what else are we looking for here?

Because if were looking for someone who plays the token gay teammate and nothing else then I'm against it. And I'd hate to have a long term X-Man jump out of the closet just to stir up controversy. Give Northstar and Karma more focus, no one would complain...but I don't like the idea of forcing something just to say "we have one of those".

@hawk2916: Storm is African American (born in America,raised in Africa)

Why is everyone so on getting peoples sexuality and politcal views in comics i couldnt care less

What about the Living Lightning? oh wait...he's not the main character. Mmmmmm....I'm thinking.

Maybe Storm? That would give her something to make her more relevant again. She could have a storyline where she finally finds fulfillment with a Stevie Hunter. There was a lot of subtext supporting this interpretation years ago, but it could be good for the character to go full blown.

I'm ambivalent about it, because it seems like giving in just for shock value but the character hasn't had much personal development so it could spur more thoughtful stories for her.

@phoenixofthetides: It's already been established that Ororo's bisexual tho.

Some bisexuals adopt a gay identity after self-reflection. I think taking Ororo in that direction might be better for the character, especially since she's never explicitly said she was bisexual IIRC. Since she's still "in the closet in plain sight", this would be a good, visible progression for the character.

@ageofhurricane: Really? I honestly never knew that. I usually dont pay much attention to it but I missed this completely. Though i do recall that image Phoenix just pointed out.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. I think i tend to have a different viewpoint from most people I think when it comes to things like this. I wont get into it because who wants to get really political, and really everyone has a right to their own opinions, right? But certain elements here are really beginning to aggravate me when it comes to these issues. But again i think im speaking in general regarding the media and other literary outlets. Its just that regardless of how a person feels, to constantly stamp and scream and try to push certain things cheapens the relevancy of the statements or actions. Example: Im African American and yet if I were to make everything a black/white issue and scream racism everytime something happens i dont like, it becomes a case of the boy who cried wolf. In the media when all these people "come out" announcing that they are gay, I personally why and why now? Should every straight person announce that too? What does it matter? Not everything has to be about making a political statement, unless people are noticing a blank spot on the shelf and looking to fill it with another award from yet another organization.

I prefer for the Xmen to be groundbreaking trendsetters and not mass bandwagon jumping, flavor of the month followers. They've done an adequate job of having a variety of characters and different cultures, backgrounds and beliefs throughout history, so why not just leave it at that and not try to force issues needlessly.

I want it to be Rictor. Northstar was totally neutered by his marriage. Rictor is a great, grounded personality for the X-Men, has unique abilities (which I can't say the same for JP), and has non-powered abilities that are useful in the field (in early X-Factor he was shown to be quite the tech geek).

A question for OP:

Do you mean an already established gay character to receive a spotlight or an already existing straight character jump out of the closet?

@hawk2916: Lolol not really. Take it with a grain of salt. But then, like, if you're an Ororo fan and are aware of her relationship with Yukio...well, more need not be said than that.

Perhaps. I mean i definitely wouldn't be opposed to an opportunity for further dimensional exploration within the character. I mean, whatever provides for good, logical and substantiated stories. But there's a method of respectful trepidation that most writers fail to compliantly heed when treading on social group territory--semantically speaking. Whatever the disposition may be, in this case sexuality, i've found that the narrative would consequently revolve around said character's sexuality and whatever that entails as opposed to the integral constituents that provide the whole, and it happens just about all the time--see Young Avengers. Or see writers that see Kurt as a religious fanatic and nothing else.

@hawk2916: My point exactly. I just don't find the addition to be entirely necessary. Kitty is Jewish and its been brought up in the past, but I hadn't even remembered it was part of her character until she used it to compare her identities as a mutant and a Jew. The same with Karma and Rictor in that unless it was relevant to their current story it wasn't brought up. Northstar's relationship was very relevant to his development over the last few years and it provided a culmination to his character's arc.

Honestly it takes delicate hands to handle these things, and for someone to come in and say "hey, Wolverine is gay now" would bother me because it wouldn't feel like a natural evolution of the character and would feel more like a betrayal. Homosexuality shouldn't be used as a selling point, and not every book needs someone to appeal to a social group....just write good stories.

I like Dust because she's a cool character featured in one of my favorite books, that she's considered to be a positive Middle Eastern portrayal is an after thought to me and I wouldn't suggest her join a book solely on the basis of that one character trait.

@koays: I agree 100%

@oldnightcrawler: After Nightcrawler saga ends. It will proabably be focused in Iceman and firestar. Probably with Spiderman too.

Well he said "New" so I think he means a new character.

Someone mentioned Mysique. Well She is not a X-men...

@marcosvergara14: He never said that. I'm only joking.

them again I've never read a comic that he stated he was a mutant. I read just a Few young avengers issues, and yet I had no Idea he was a mutant. Just like Scarlet witch and other characters who hate being Indentified as one, you have to do a little research to know that...

yeah, I just saw a preview of that today. I hope he does something with Northstar, though, if he's going to be around. He's always been a favorite of mine.

Not like the X-Men had the first gay wedding in comics or anything recently... oh wait....

@oldnightcrawler: You know, I think Northstar needs a writer that is able to really get in his personal issues. He is Arrogant,egotistical, narcisist and airheaded yet nobody seens to care about that. I mean, he should fight with his teamates all day with that kind of behavior.

@ultra_beleco: yeah, he can be written like an arrogant hot-head but still ultimately suave at the same time. There's a lot a character like that can add to any group dynamic. It almost makes me wish he was on Storm's team, since I feel like Wood is pretty good at writing that kind of character; I could see him being pretty fun on the same team as someone like Monet or Rachel.

quoted for truth. Northstar should join the XX-Men... although in no way am i making a nasty comment out his being femme at all. He fits in very well here - and recall during that first arc when Rogue was around... she used powers she'd borrowed from JP.

I adore Northstar - from the snarky d-bag to the suave charmer... he's still a hero through and through. Potential for all sorts of drama with the husband, Aurora, Alpha Flight rejects/enemies... He could easily be a top tier X-Man with the right writer, all he lacks is the by-the-book Super Strength... but he's shown he doesn't need it time and again. A slight power boost to be able to use the light powers he shares with Aurora on his own would be all he needs to really roll in the biggest leagues.

absolutely agree.

but doesn't he always have super-strength/endurance? I thought someone had to have those to be capable of the super-speed he's got or their body would fall apart from the stress..

he doesn't have super strength of resilience as such... but his body can resist the extreme speed completely - but not an up-close explosion whist flying. He seems to have evolved a power set that his body is consummately suited for.

Super speed and resilience aren't necessary when you can move that damn fast. His endurance may be enchanced, very likely, but perhaps not... he gets things done a LOT faster than other people... i imagine his food bill would be astronomical to account for all the energy he burns.

eh.. I think they are. A regular human would be torn to shreds going at Mach 10, and Northstar can supposedly fly at almost the speed of light. I'm basing this off of a wiki entry with no citations, but it stands to reason that he'd need to be much stronger and tougher than a regular human to go at the speeds he's supposed to go in the comics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northstar#Powers_and_abilities

Consider as an example the latest issue of Amazing X-Men, issue #4, in which Wolverine (who has much more stamina than a regular human, due to lack of muscle fatigue from his healing factor) is freezing to death from exposure; all the while, Northstar is flying "as far as I can in every direction" and he seems fine, winded at most.

oops mistype - meant that to be Super Strength and resilience.

Its def not true that he's flying at Mach 10 or Speed of Light... even Quicksilver isn't going that fast... That's wiki for you tho. He may have some enhanced stats... but he's not Super anything other than Super Speed. Also remember in Amazing Wolverine HAS NO HEALING FACTOR WHATSOEVER. Wolverboring no longer possesses that power. Northstar is also accustomed to colder climes - being Canadian AND an olympic skiier. Like i said he may have enhanced endurance, but thats it. His mutation, like Quicksilver's, allows him to not be shredded at velocity. that's it. He has no personal force field (like Cannonball) and no Super-toughness/invulnerability - he's been killed more than once.

I did forget about the healing factor thing (if that's at play in this story), but you seem to have forgot that Wolverine is also Canadian and has a history of running around in the wilderness with no clothes on, so that shouldn't make a difference to what I was getting at (also, I'm Canadian, and I can assure you it doesn't make that much difference :v).

My point was more that he must be tougher/more resilient (and therefore stronger) than a regular human. I mean, if you want to compare him to Quicksilver, I think the same thing applies; he may not be as tough or as strong as Colossus, but he's still stronger and tougher than a baseline human, which, since I am one, I would consider to be super-strong and super-tough.

Obviously that doesn't mean that he can't get hurt, but he can't get hurt by a lot of the things that would hurt a normal person, so that in itself must be a product of his mutation and therefore a super-power, that's all.

I really hate agenda pushing in writing. Do we need a gay main character? No! Would I be mad if we had one? No! Would I be upset if that's the only reason the character got any panel time? Absolutely! The point is; Marvel, DC and Image for that matter, have plenty of gay/minority/religious characters to use. Some are severely underused, and some are overtly exploited. What the OP seems to be asking for is some "token" character to fill some type of agenda.

@night_thrasher: I hate it too. I saw loads of people saying, Should Superman be gay? or why were there no black heroes in the Avengers movie? It's about the characters, not their race or sexual preference. If you put a black or gay character in a movie as a token character you are doing the character a disservice.

I don't think the OP is asking for that at all. When you look at OP's comment, they simply said that they think there should be a new main character and that it would be nice if it was a gay male character. The rest of us gave suggestions. I don't think an agenda is being pushed just by talking about it.

I think it is a little bit of agenda pushing...Not completely blaming the OP but you have to admit that the whole "We need more _____ characters in _____ universe" thread is getting old. I'm getting a little tired of characters being made gay/bisexual (Loki, Alan Scott, etc) or changed race (Nick Fury) just to promote an agenda. I'm also getting tired of characters only being created to represent a particular sexual preference or minority. To me, when you create a character all the other stuff should be secondary. The character should come first, the tidbits should add to the character and not BE the character. My key example is Shatterstar...before he was a one note character with little backstory and little to no development. Now he's a one note character with little to no backstory and he's bisexual. I would have rather Peter David dig into his origin and the whole "Benjamin Russell" story than just have him bed hop.

Kinda like what Gillen to did to Prodigy. I still haven't emerged from underneath that particular loop.

Why not a team of just the gay X-Men?

then perhaps you should read the final couple of Issues of X-Factor... Shatterstar's origin is revealed. And Longshot's for that matter. Also, by definition (yours) he a TWO note character... swords and pansexual (he's not bisexual. He's in a relatively monogamous homosexual relationship with Rictor... but 'Star himself could swing ANY way...)