DC toys - relaunching superhero as "openly gay"

[Gloriousgeorge]

Really?

FFS - that is taking things way too far IMO.

(and, no, before anyone suggests it - I don't have an issue with anyone's personal preference).

I do have issues with this tho.

Double standard ? Quite possibly.

........ hands discussion to the floor for debate ......

Why does a superhero have to be labelled as anything (gay, straight,bi) other than just being a plain superhero? Why even make it an issue? It's the world just trying to be politically correct again and be seen as 'equal'

The media have become so scared of getting into trouble. 'So we have to have a black character, an aisian one, an elderly one, a disabled and a gay one just to cover all bases'

The fact that Batman (or whoever) is gay will probably hardly enter into how kids play with the figures anyway.

Sparkle shine - I concur

Marvel already have an gay super hero Northstar one of the xmen would xman be singular? They have just announced he will be getting married to his BF. I hope this isnt just a gimmick for DC but i dont see how a character will just turn gay surely it would have to be a char with little involvment in relationships with opposite sex. Op bit daft really but if thats how you feel

But we aren't. Tony Stark (in the comics - they toned it way down for the movies) is a promiscuous alcoholic. Is that reflected in the toys? No. It's part of the comics canon that Peter Parker (Spider-man) was sexually abused as a child by an older boy. Is that reflected in tbe toys? No.

[Yes, yes, those are both Marvel examples, but for the purposes of the "featuring sex in comics is the EXACT SAME THING as bringing it into toys" argument it doesn't really matter whether it's Marvel or DC]

sparkleshine, because relationships are a part of real life and a part of life in comic books. Comic books have always featured relationships. Peter Parker and Mary Jane etc.

Cross-posted... For clarity, that's "But we aren't [bringing sex into toys]."

I mean how exactly will they make a toy figure appear gay? It'll all still be the same to the kids that play with these things.

Sparkleshine, I think there already is a disabled superhero. Didn't Ben Affleck play a blind superhero?

It would be pretty boring if all superhero stories were exactly the same.

Doctor Xavier anyone?

Oops I stand corrected then

If they can promote a positive message with a superhero which already has foundations as a loved character amongst its readers/fans, then I don't see the problem. I don't see how it can be "too far". And maybe you could argue that there's no need for them to be so PC (yawn) but although we mostly know we are raising our children with the right values, we can't overlook the fact that not everyone does. I myself know someone who (in front of her 7 year old daughter) said, "

Well George Clooney did once play Batman...

What is going too far exactly? What point in social development is far enough? Stopping actively persecuting homosexuals but asking them to please keep v v v quiet about so you can pretend it doesn't actually happen?

YABU

I have a problem with the phrase 'opely gay' reeks of homophobia. No one is ever described in the press as 'openly straight'

5inthebed I take offence to that comment.

As was clarified on an earlier thread, he is just "experimenting" until he meets me

I have a son who is not openly gay. He's come out to his friends but not come out to us. I'm not homophobic.

I'll be interested how they convey the gay aspect.

I have children in primary school and I worry about homophobia that my children have picked up and repeated at home.

They understand why racism is inappropriate but I have had to come down hard on homophobic comments that they have repeated at home

I'm hoping that secondary schools will clamp down hard on homophobic language but until then I worry that my children are repeating homophobic things that school.

I welcome more openness and matter-of-factness about homosexuality aimed at kids.

Have those of you saying "Why does a superhero have to be labelled as anything?" ever actually READ any comics? Lois Lane has been described as "Superman's girlfriend" since at least the 1950s. Spider-Man has been dating girls since the 1960s. Batman and Talia al Ghul have been carrying on together since the 1970s, were briefly married and have a son. Have you spent the last sixty-plus years complaining that these characters have been "labelled" as straight? Or is it only now that there's a same-sex relationship in the offing that you've decided that actually you never approved of any of that in the first place?

Sorrry retro I should have been clearer. I wasn't accusing anyone of being homophobic, more about the way language is structured and how it reflects society's expectations, specifically the percieved 'norm' of heterosexuality.

Apologies AfternoonDelight I shall report my post forthwith!

Nice one, DC!

Wait, hang on, Wolvie is Marvel, right?

Ah yes. Nice one, DC!

All it'll mean is that the baddie will occasionally try to kill the hero's boyfriend in an unecessarily violent and weird way, instead of his girlfriend.

Oh, and what Casey said.

Doubt it will be Batman considering Batwoman came out as a lesbian 5 years ago.

And why are you talking about "toys"? These are comic book characters, in comics that are mostly bought by adults.

My money is on the Green Lantern - he's had plenty of pro-gay, anti-homophobic storylines already.

A group of individuals who are ostrasised by their families and feared by society because of the way they are born. Some members argue that they should work to persuade society to accept them, whilst some argue that it is societies problem and they need to build their own seperate communities, and all other opinions inbetween.

X-men or people who just happen to have be born gay. Not my theory, but a really interesting article in the Face magazine (and a few internet discussions).

Personally if I wouldn't give a chuff if my DD wanted to play with the toy if it made it from the comics. Same as I'll let her play with boy or non-white dolls to let explore the idea that not everyone is the same as her. I would be bothered if she used gay as an insult and would feel that I had somehow failed to help her develop empathy for others.

"Have those of you saying "Why does a superhero have to be labelled as anything?" ever actually READ any comics? Lois Lane has been described as "Superman's girlfriend" since at least the 1950s. Spider-Man has been dating girls since the 1960s. Batman and Talia al Ghul have been carrying on together since the 1970s, were briefly married and have a son. Have you spent the last sixty-plus years complaining that these characters have been "labelled" as straight? Or is it only now that there's a same-sex relationship in the offing that you've decided that actually you never approved of any of that in the first place?"

Yes. All of that. Absolutely.