the case for

The Amazons are queer to begin with. That’s not even up for debate. And when I talk about the Amazons, I’m talking about the ones in Wonder Woman comics, as originally introduced in 1941 by H.G. Peter, William Moulton Marston, and Marston’s partners and uncredited collaborators, Elizabeth Holloway Marston and Olive Byrne. The idea that Greek Myth and ancient writings are good sources for what DC’s Amazons should be like didn’t really take hold until Brian Azzarello’s run, and it didn’t serve them very well.

Earlier in the week, I participated in Comics Alliance’s Queer Superteam Fantasy Draft. We each chose seven queer characters we’d want to see on a team book together (in a perfect world where comic companies shared their characters with each other). Nearly all the picks for each participant had to be in-canon LGBTQ+ representation, but we also got to choose one wildcard --- a character that wasn’t confirmed on page as queer, but who we felt should be part of our team. And while I have many queer headcanons for many different superheroes, my wild card pick had to be Starfire. Because Starfire is so obviously pansexual. It’s so obvious that it’s frustrating that the comics have never confirmed it.

A great many LGBTQ people realize that they’re queer at a young age. Maybe it’s through childhood crushes on fictional characters or an intrinsic knowing that they’re not the gender they’ve been assigned. Many who discover their identities later in life wish they had the language and representation to understand themselves at an earlier age. Media needs more representation of young LGBTQ kids — Lumberjanes and Steven Universe and Boy in Pink Earmuffs can’t carry that burden alone. That’s why I argue that Jonathan Samuel Kent, current Superboy and ten-year-old child to Lois Lane and Clark Kent, should be queer.

Everyone needs a Spider-Man. Sure, Peter Parker might be good for some people, but my Spider-Man was always Mayday Parker from the MC2. I want Spider-Man to be anyone. I want there to be a Spider-Man that every comic reader can identify with. When Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli unleashed Miles Morales on the world, it was a godsend. Miles Morales is "my" Spider-Man for a lot of people, and because he's now the real Spider-Man, he should be "my" Spider-Man for members of the LGBTQ community as well. Miles Morales should be gay.

Between the new television cartoon, last year's remarkable CGI movie, the new comics put out by Kaboom and the themed strip collections put out by Fantagraphics to supplement the The Complete Peanuts series, it's been a good time to be a fan of the work of Charles M. Schulz. But in absorbing a lot of this stuff, something leaped out at me that I can't push aside: Peppermint Patty --- formally known as Patricia Reichardt --- should be bisexual.

There’s a term in the transgender community called “eggmode”; parlance for transgender or nonbinary people who haven’t figured it out yet. A while back on social media, #eggmode trended with tales of behaviors that in retrospect seem like giant neon signs. They include thinking constantly about what it would be like as a gender other than the one we think we are; undergoing experimental living as said gender; or reading and writing stories about characters who have transitioned (even if those stories get just enough wrong to put some warped ideas in our heads.) Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen is totally an egg. Jimmy’s next startling metamorphosis could be into an actual egg, and it wouldn't make the character any more of an egg than they are now.

Steve Rogers is a trans man. I don’t say this as an argument, I say this as a truth. Steve Rogers is trans. Rebirth is fundamental to who Captain America is. Before his rebirth, he was scrawny Steve Rogers, who fought in the streets of Brooklyn. Then he became Captain America, the soldier that he always dreamed he would be.

Superhero comic books have a long way to go when it comes to representing LGBTQ people in a way that reflects the beauty and diversity of the real world, and the genre would benefit from more experiences being displayed and more stories being told. For Pride Week here at ComicsAlliance, we're looking at some of the established characters who could be used to explore LGBTQ identities, and I want to talk about why I think that Aquaman should be bisexual.