One question asked at the DC panel today at the Kapow comic convention in London, was about DC co-publisher Dan DiDio’s interview with The Advocate. Specifically over the decision not to change any character’s sexual orientation when relaunching the DC Universe. At the time Dan stated they would introduce new LGBT characters rather than switch orientation, but the question asked why DC would switch race, size, age, all sorts of identifying features, but not orientation.
Surprisingly, Dan stated that they had changed DC’s policy in this regard. And they ae about to reintroduce a previously existing DC character who was previously straight and now will be “one of our most prominent gay characters.”
As Senior VP Sales Bob Wayne explained, just like the President of the United States, the co-publisher’s policy on this “has evolved.”
Fox News is reporting this as “Could Superman be gay?”
I seriously doubt that, for a number of reasons. One of which is cynicism — why make your flagship character less likeable to the less tolerant crowd who can’t empathize with someone who’s a straight white male, and have to retcon Lois Lane, one of their only moderately strong woman characters ever, out of the picture? So it’ll be someone less prominent than Superman, but hopefully still A-string. If I have to find out that their most prominent gay hero is going to be Booster Gold, someone on the same tier as Northstar, I’ll be pissed.
I’m betting it will be Batman. And it’ll probably be that he’s bi, given his proclivities for shacking up with twenty-year-old “wards” and knowing his previous issues with relationships with women. That wouldn’t be a bad pick, honestly.
Seriously though, I’m hard-pressed to think of an A-list superhero who’s been single and at least mostly-unresponsive to female advances. I suppose anyone could be feigning interest to stay in the closet, though.
