Green lantern Homosexual

[Rowan]

I'd just like to make it known that I dont advocate any stance. I dont have a reason to be against the lgbt community or be in support of it. Im straight and I dont care who wants to bugger who. What I do want to know is how making a fictional characters sexuality announced as gay 72 years after his creation can be seen as anything other than a guilt trip for the lgbt movement. If anything I see it as a marketing ploy which is abusing the active lgbt movement that is becoming exceedingly popular these days.

Excuse the quality of the article, I just found some random one as reference.
Green Lantern comes out of the...


What are your thoughts on this?

[Pete]

Well Ryan Reynolds played the Lantern AND he broke up with Scarlett Johanson.

I think it's a sign.

[Halie]

Even as a huge supporter of LGBT rights, I actually kind of agree with you. It does seem like a ploy to garner more fans and respect, I suppose you could say. It seems a bit too convenient to releasing such a statement at a time when support of gay rights is increasingly popular. Though I guess that could be why they've announced it but to me it seems unlikely to be the real reason.

Well Ryan Reynolds played the Lantern AND he broke up with Scarlett Johanson.

I think it's a sign.

If I looked like Scarlett Johansson and a guy broke up with me, I'd have to suspect him of being gay, too.

[Clint]

They chose Alan Scott to be gay, and actually expect anybody to care about that? Hal Jordan is the most famous Green Lantern. They should have made him gay. Then people would have actually cared.

At least they didn't make Wally West, aka, The Flash gay. Oh, that's right, ever since the dumbass New 52, Wally West doesn't even exist anymore. And somehow Barry Allen is alive again. I guess everybody is supposed to forget that Wally West was the leading Flash longer then anybody in existence. The **** is wrong with DC?! Doing stupid shit like this is the reason their sales for all comics that aren't Batman related are down.

Nobody gives a shit if Alan Scott is gay. Not even the LGBT weirdos. He's a fictional character, and one that absolutely nobody cares about.

Anger aside, I would have assumed they'd choose Aquaman to be gay. I kind of figured he was gay already.

[Heartless Angel]

They chose Alan Scott to be gay, and actually expect anybody to care about that? Hal Jordan is the most famous Green Lantern. They should have made him gay. Then people would have actually cared.

At least they didn't make Wally West, aka, The Flash gay. Oh, that's right, ever since the dumbass New 52, Wally West doesn't even exist anymore. And somehow Barry Allen is alive again. I guess everybody is supposed to forget that Wally West was the leading Flash longer then anybody in existence. The **** is wrong with DC?! Doing stupid shit like this is the reason their sales for all comics that aren't Batman related are down.

Nobody gives a shit if Alan Scott is gay. Not even the LGBT weirdos. He's a fictional character, and one that absolutely nobody cares about.

Anger aside, I would have assumed they'd choose Aquaman to be gay. I kind of figured he was gay already.

Aquaman would've been my guess too, though not because he seemed gay (which if I think about it, he kinda did) But because he's one of the few characters anybody would care less about than Alan Scott. I mean really, Alan Scott of all the characters? 90% of comic readers any more don't even know who that is. This really sounds like they just wanted a token gay character to pacify the LGBT crowd and pretend they're tolerant without actually doing anything big enough for the rest of the world, and anybody AGAINST LGBT to even notice. Really, making Alan Scott gay is like hiring a black janitor so you can say your company isn't racist. Well thanks, that's wonderful that you give such a meaningful role to a minority. I'm sure all the gays lesbians and bisexuals of the world are going to want to go read ancient Green Lantern comics now. Obvious marketing ploy is obvious.

[Order]

Well Ryan Reynolds played the Lantern AND he broke up with Scarlett Johanson.

If the shoe fits.

Also, I need to mail a letter to Scarlett.
Does anyone have her address?

[Joxsjua]

Is it okay for Robin and Batman to come out now?

[Clint]

Is it okay for Robin and Batman to come out now?

Batman is Robin's father, so if you're insinuating that they're gay together, then that's just disgusting. And if Bruce Wayne is gay, then that means that Talia al Ghul is a man.

And if you're insinuating that Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, or Tim Drake have a homosexual relationship with Bruce, that is also disgusting. They are Bruce's adopted children, and by no means are any of them gay.

I take offense to you.

[Joxsjua]

Batman is Robin's father, so if you're insinuating that they're gay together, then that's just disgusting. And if Bruce Wayne is gay, then that means that Talia al Ghul is a man.

And if you're insinuating that Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, or Tim Drake have a homosexual relationship with Bruce, that is also disgusting. They are Bruce's adopted children, and by no means are any of them gay.

I take offense to you.

I'll send Adam West your condolences.


Yeah, Auqaman's probably a tetragametic chimera and resulted in a hermaphrodite.

[Martin]

Being brutally brutally honest, they're comic book characters. They get retconned all the time - why should sexual preference not be either? How many times does comic canon get re-written as is? The only real talking point should be that it's taken this long to happen.

And as TGCE said, it's Alan Scott. I don't care about Alan Scott. I actually thought he was dead. Thought.. hoped.. same difference.

[RagnaToad]

If anything I see it as a marketing ploy which is abusing the active lgbt movement that is becoming exceedingly popular these days.

Aren't most changes, sexuality or other, to a fictional character made with the purpose of making it more popular? I hardly consider this 'abusing' a certain group of society.

Maybe they want to attract more gay comic book readers.
Or maybe they just felt like it could bring something decent to the story.

Maybe DC Comics decided they needed a gay superhero like Marvel has Northstar, who is going to marry his boyfriend in an upcoming issue of Astonishing X-Men this month.

[Zargabaath]

They chose Alan Scott to be gay, and actually expect anybody to care about that? Hal Jordan is the most famous Green Lantern. They should have made him gay. Then people would have actually cared.

According to the writer, since the events of Flashpoint* made Scott younger again his gay son no longer exists. Therefore the writer thought it would be best if Scott were to become gay.

* Before Flashpoint Scott was married with 2 kids.

At least they didn't make Wally West, aka, The Flash gay. Oh, that's right, ever since the dumbass New 52, Wally West doesn't even exist anymore. And somehow Barry Allen is alive again. I guess everybody is supposed to forget that Wally West was the leading Flash longer then anybody in existence. The **** is wrong with DC?!

Barry Allen came back in Final Crisis. And there is a proposal West's future. Though I understand your anger since West is highly regarded among the DCU and as a Flash.

Anger aside, I would have assumed they'd choose Aquaman to be gay. I kind of figured he was gay already.

Aquaman would've been my guess too, though not because he seemed gay (which if I think about it, he kinda did)

Well Aquaman was married to Mera for a while, which they were brought back together during Flashpoint and afterwards. Dolphin was Aquaman's lover while Mera was away in her dimension.

But because he's one of the few characters anybody would care less about than Alan Scott. I mean really, Alan Scott of all the characters? 90% of comic readers any more don't even know who that is. This really sounds like they just wanted a token gay character to pacify the LGBT crowd and pretend they're tolerant without actually doing anything big enough for the rest of the world, and anybody AGAINST LGBT to even notice. Really, making Alan Scott gay is like hiring a black janitor so you can say your company isn't racist. Well thanks, that's wonderful that you give such a meaningful role to a minority. I'm sure all the gays lesbians and bisexuals of the world are going to want to go read ancient Green Lantern comics now. Obvious marketing ploy is obvious.

According to DC, because Obama openly supported gay marriage they decided to change one of their "main" superheroes gay. Their previous position on the matter was not to change a pre-existing character but to make a new character whom was gay.

Currently Alan Scott is apart of the Earth 2 comics of the New 52. Which in issue 2 Scott will reveal his homosexuality.

[Rowan]

Maybe DC Comics decided they needed a gay superhero

I need to adopt a little african boy so I can tell all my friends and co-workers that I've adopted a little african boy and they can bask in the awe of my genorosity... or in marvels case this would be... Support of the lbgt community? I wonder how long it is until we find out aquaman is transgender, or that the flash likes both sausage and taco?

They are superheroes, what the hell does their sexuality have to do with fighting crime unless theyre trying to say "gay people can fight crime too!" Its absurd.

[Alpha]

They are superheroes, what the hell does their sexuality have to do with fighting crime unless theyre trying to say "gay people can fight crime too!" Its absurd.

I think that is exactly what they are trying to do. Being straight, it's easy to identify with the characters in the comics, right? As a kid growing up, I never had a need for reassurance that the way I felt about girls was normal. I knew it was, because it was constantly reaffirmed, everywhere I looked. All of my heroes were like me.

I gather that a gay person growing up doesn't get that kind of reaffirmation of their normality and nature as a human. None (or very, very, few) of their heroes resembled them. They could not see themselves reflected in media. Because it is perfectly normal to be gay, it should be perfectly normal that there are comic book characters who are also gay. The fact that it warrants such a discussion in the first place is odd. The only thing I can see anyone being 'against' is that they have made an inconsequential character gay*. But even then, inconsequential characters are just as likely to be gay as important ones.

It's even harder still if you grow up transgendered, probably.

* Is this right? IDK, I don't read or care about comics at all.

[Rowan]

I think that is exactly what they are trying to do. Being straight, it's easy to identify with the characters in the comics, right? As a kid growing up, I never had a need for reassurance that the way I felt about girls was normal. I knew it was, because it was constantly reaffirmed, everywhere I looked. All of my heroes were like me.

I gather that a gay person growing up doesn't get that kind of reaffirmation of their normality and nature as a human. None (or very, very, few) of their heroes resembled them. They could not see themselves reflected in media. Because it is perfectly normal to be gay, it should be perfectly normal that there are comic book characters who are also gay. The fact that it warrants such a discussion in the first place is odd. The only thing I can see anyone being 'against' is that they have made an inconsequential character gay*. But even then, inconsequential characters are just as likely to be gay as an important one.

* Is this right? IDK, I don't read or care about comics at all.

Well I can agree with you that its normal, something that bothers me is that a lot of readers and watchers of superheroes are very young kids who have obviously not discovered their sexuality.Im assuming superheroes sexualities arnt generally discussed since it took 72 years for us to find out that lantern prefers men, but introducing sexuality in general whether it be straight or gay could be comprimising the inoccence of children. In this case its going out of the way to make it known that The green lantern is homosexual. The argument for me stands that for whatever reason they did this, it was entirely unnecassary and only to gain some sort of media attention.

[Dranzer]

That Green Lantern was Hal Jordan and is the most popular version of the character. Scott, who made his first appearance in 1940, didn't even wear the all-over green body suit and was never part of an intergalactic peace keeping corps. He wore green pants and a green cloak and wielded a strange lamp that housed mystical green flame. He was also vulnerable to wood (no sniggering).

I sniggered at this, what're they going to do about it? C'mon anyone with a remote sense of humor had to at least SMIRK at that.

If I looked like Scarlett Johansson and a guy broke up with me, I'd have to suspect him of being gay, too.

Off topic, but:

Honey, don't insult yourself, you're prettier than Scarlett Johansson will ever hope to be. She's got a narrow horse-face and has what seems to be a permanent expression similar to someone who just swallowed a gallon of prunes.

Also, I need to mail a letter to Scarlett.
Does anyone have her address?

You go, boy. You're perfect for each other, if I find out what it is or even a PO box I promise I'll give it to you.

I think that is exactly what they are trying to do. Being straight, it's easy to identify with the characters in the comics, right? As a kid growing up, I never had a need for reassurance that the way I felt about girls was normal. I knew it was, because it was constantly reaffirmed, everywhere I looked. All of my heroes were like me.

I gather that a gay person growing up doesn't get that kind of reaffirmation of their normality and nature as a human. None (or very, very, few) of their heroes resembled them. They could not see themselves reflected in media. Because it is perfectly normal to be gay, it should be perfectly normal that there are comic book characters who are also gay. The fact that it warrants such a discussion in the first place is odd. The only thing I can see anyone being 'against' is that they have made an inconsequential character gay*. But even then, inconsequential characters are just as likely to be gay as important ones.

It's even harder still if you grow up transgendered, probably.

* Is this right? IDK, I don't read or care about comics at all.

Thank you for being you and saving me the time to post a response similar to this, you're awesome. <3

Well I can agree with you that its normal, something that bothers me is that a lot of readers and watchers of superheroes are very young kids who have obviously not discovered their sexuality.Im assuming superheroes sexualities arnt generally discussed since it took 72 years for us to find out that lantern prefers men, but introducing sexuality in general whether it be straight or gay could be comprimising the inoccence of children. In this case its going out of the way to make it known that The green lantern is homosexual. The argument for me stands that for whatever reason they did this, it was entirely unnecassary and only to gain some sort of media attention.

I agree with you that gaining some sort of media attention was at least a part of the thought process behind such a revelation, but I do have a question for you: if you think that introducing sexuality in general would compromise the innocence of children, then do you think that violence (fantasy or no) depicted in said comics would be detrimental to the innocence of children as well?