1. Northstar (Alpha Flight/The X-Men)
Twenty years ago, in
Alpha Flight #106, Northstar, aka Jean-Paul Beaubier uttered these three words: I am gay. It was a momentous occasion. Only the year before, Freddie Mercury had died of AIDS. The year before that, so had the artist and activist Keith Haring. It was a time when being gay was associated with being dangerous, fringe, 'abnormal'. Millions of people all over the world read superhero comics. Old people, young people, straight people, gay people, people of different genders, people of different races. We idolise the characters, recognising and sympathising with their imperfections, and applauding them when they refuse to give up their quest to do that which is morally right. This could also apply to the Marvel writers and artists that breathe life into Northstar. He had to be closeted in the reign of Jim Shooter 1978-87, because I can imagine Shooter probably yelled at his underlings that they make superheroes, not super-QUEEROES, before hee-hawing at his own bigotry. Northstar has since had his sexuality sometimes censored, and has even been killed off once or twice, but as Marvel's first gay superhero, he has persevered. He has persevered because we share this world with people who are gay, trans and bi, and it is morally right that they are reflected in the literature that we consume. Northstar is a crimefighter, a true friend, a loving brother, an activist, and now because our society is becoming more and more tolerant, he is the husband of Kyle Jinadu. He is all of these things, and he is a homosexual. And, like the other characters that I have listed, he is a hero.