World X-Men and Homosexuality: The Connection

[onejeremytogo]

I think the tepid exploration of Homosexuality in comics is usually chalked up to the prescribed 8-14 'audience' of comics, because of the immaturity of this audience, it is easy for publishers to say that heterosexual relationships are more easily grasped in comics than same sex ones.

Personally I think if there are regular scenes in X-Men involving violence, wolverine cutting people to pieces, emma, rogue and psylocke running around in bras and g-strings, medical operations, violence against cultural minorities, occasional drug use and the revelation that Nightcrawler has two *****. Then there may as well be more Gay characters than just Northstar (whos dead) and Karma (those are the two off the top of my head, Im sure there is more), and while on occasion there sexuality is explored, they never seem to have an ongoing homosexual relationship.

Admittedly it has never really concerned me until I read this thread and started thinking about it, I think the statistics for homosexuality is something like 1 in 10 (Anyone got the facts?) and Marvel has certainly taken a more equitable approach in Ultimate X-Men, where two of the characters there are gay, Northstar and Collosus, (and wasn't it hinted that Deathstrike was a Lesbian?) out of a total pool of about thirty or forty mutant characters. So 5% isn't that bad.

Nightcrawler has two whats???

 

[onejeremytogo]

but what if they DONT accept me? also if i were open i think i would lose a lot of people as friends. i dont want none of that to happen. its just really hard.

That's something that is GOING to happen. I remember the first time it happened to me. I was standing in line at the local grocery store..one that I used to work at. A friend of mine came over to talk to me. I mentioned my boyfriend and he just turned and walked away mid sentance. I didn't know what to think. I just turned around and though, "what a jerk". At any rate..he couldn't have been my friend to begin with and I'm glad he walked away. If he hadn't have done that then he might have turned on me when I really needed him. So basically..on the bright side..you'll finally find out who your real friends are.

 

[littyx]

Out of all of my friends, onejeremytogo, and I mean all of them including acquaintances, only 1 stopped talking to me. And it was the only one I expected to stop talking to me. A very conservative, Born-Again Christian guy that I had been close friends with for only about 6 months.

And I've always been mad at him. Not for him walking away from our friendship, but for him tarnishing my coming out experience. Without him, my coming out experience would've been great. But he made me realize that some people are really not your friends. Honestly, what kind of person turns their back on you when they find out who you really are?

A person that was never your friend to begin with.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

How did I manage to stay out of this thread for so long?

I have yet to have a friend stop talking to me because of being gay, but I'm not out to all of them just yet.

 

[newwaveboy87]

i don't like when people say that when someone doesn't accept your homosexuality they don't accept who you are. sure, you are homosexual, but that's not ALL of who you are. it bothers me to no end when people say they're hated for who they are and mention only sexual orientation, gender, or race as the reason.

these are things that you are.
they are not what you or who you are.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Thank you Jason! I held myself back from saying that!

 

[newwaveboy87]

Margaret Cho said once, "You can not think that i'm funny, or intelligent, fine, whatever. i can argue that. but when you hate me for my race or sexuality, you're hating me. you're hating who i am."

i wanted to scream at her so bad.

these are things that you are - yes. they are a part of who you are - yes. they are not everything that you are.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

So true.

 

[littyx]

I actually disagree with you there newwave.

Think about what the wondeful Margaret Cho is actually implying in the words she said.

I am gay. I am. To some people, I am the gay guy. And you know what? Good. I am not ashamed, and to a certain extent, my homosexuality WILL make up a lot of who I am throughout my life. And I like that. Like I have stated before I like that I am gay. I mean, seriously, what she is saying, and what I am agreeing with is look, being gay in our day and age is a HUGE thing. We need to realize that, and wear it proudly. And if people want to just view me as someone who is gay, then thats on them. What do I care? Yes, being gay is a part of me, but it is also who I am!

Its not like being black or gay or transgender is like being a red-head or a brunette. Because no one really cares about those things. But the fact that we can be discriminated agasint, or treated unfairly, or feel included, or feel excluded, or be understood, or be misunderstood....makes it that much more of an important factor in our character. Thats what I think Margaret Cho is saying.

God, I love her.

 

[newwaveboy87]

actually it IS like being a different race or gender. people can, and do, hate others based on something like that.

my homosexuality isn't a big deal to me. it's just a part of me, it doesn't define me. neither does my hispanic heritage, it's a part of me, it is not all of me. my pale skin, dark hair and eyes, my height and weight, age, gender, class - these are things that i have outside of my control and help make me who i am. they don't define me. none of these things are big deals to me. perhaps i'm an exception to a rule i don't know about, but i don't see the big deal about being gay. you are, you aren't, what does it matter in the end? not a whole lot.

i don't like to be defined by a singular word, or definition. i'm more complex then that.

 

[littyx]

You misunderstood my comment about people of different races or genders. I said that being black, gay, or transgendered IS different then just being somone of a certain hair color. And that things like your race, gender, and sexuality are much larger concepts about you then certain other things.

I totally get what your saying about not wanting to be defined by JUST your sexuality? Who does? No one. But what someone like Margaret Cho and myself are saying is that something like your sexuality runs so deep into your own self. When someone makes fun of you for being gay, that hurts to your core. Because, that is who you are, right? Your a gay man.

I don't think anyone is saying to just simplify your being to this one image, or stereotype. But that something as large as your sexuality or race has a lot to do with who you are as a person.

 

[newwaveboy87]

who i am is not a gay man.
i am Jason, who, yes, is gay. but to me, that's such a minor thing in the grand scale that when someone makes fun it, it doesn't hurt me to my core. i joke about it all the time too. it's no big deal.

samething can be said about my race. i make fun of my Mexican family all the time. hell...they make fun of Mexicans too. race isn't a big deal either.

i think we've just got two different opinions on this.
and that, makes the world a wonderous place.

 

[littyx]

NO!!! I shall drill you until you agree with me newwave!!!!!!!

ok, your right. different opinions.

anyway, bck to some lighthearted gay stuff....I have held off on having a 4th date in 4 days with that guy. He's beautiful. He called me his boyfriend yesterday.

 

[newwaveboy87]

you can drill me all you want, but i don't give people the power to make me feel ashamed of who i am and don't care what they say.



love....it's overrated.

 

[pyromaniac]

i don't like to be defined by a singular word, or definition. i'm more complex then that.

Really?

And yet when it comes to love, it's overrated right?



Anyway, I might've skimmed, but I reckon I agree with you both - newwave and littyx.

About that friend walking away mid-sentence, onejeremytogo - that is rude. You should've run after him and smack the surprise and dismay on him; I just kind of dislike the thought that there'd be one more person in the world running about with maligned views of a minority.

I'm that hopeful that way: I tend to think they can be given the benefit of the doubt and that because they are still human by the same token, can be made to identify the humanity in us all; in other words, they can be changed!

But one thing I'll say - the emphasis on prejudice of homosexuality is a little bit skewered when in comparison to prejudice of facial, mental and emotional and physical personalities; I'll simplify in schơolyard bullying terms: 'you're stupid and ugly and fat and you're a ho.'

Cuts deep, man.

But words, depending on how you let yourself be, don't even have to have any kind of impact on you. So, in that respect, lttyx, no I don't agree with you there.

 

[newwaveboy87]

i say love is overrated cause lately i've been in a funk.
been a little blue if you will.

 

[pyromaniac]

i say love is overrated cause lately i've been in a funk.
been a little blue if you will.

Incidentally, Nightcrawler's loved lots and lots of ladies and been loved in return, and he's still blue.



Okay, trying to help...

 

[newwaveboy87]

*laughs....a lot*
that and the unexpected out pouring of love helped.

 

[pyromaniac]

It's good karma!

Not so in a funk anymore, eh...?

I think, in lieu of 'change' that is forced or otherwise, a little familiarity helps and goes a long way, generally speaking.

But, feels real, doesn't it?

 

[newwaveboy87]

actually, after i left the Hype, the funk came back over me.
but now, it's gone.

gotta love the monthly, week long, wildly frentic mood swings i get.
yes, it is very much like PMS.

 

[littyx]

7 dates in 9 days. hmmm

 

[pyromaniac]

Huh?

 

[littyx]

I was telling people on here last week that I had met a guy and we had gone on 3 dates in 3 days. Well, now I'm actually on to 8 dates in 10 days.

Just updating you guys on some of my exciting news at the moment.

 

[cookiva]

Jeez, man...


Lucky...

 

[littyx]

I do feel lucky. Its awesome. I've waited a long time for this.