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22 Are there any gay X-Men?




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This article is from the X-Men Comic Books FAQ, by Kate the Short (racmx@yahoo.com) with numerous contributions by others.

22 Are there any gay X-Men?

Yes: Northstar. As of UXM #414, he's part of a "real" team of X-Men,
and the question should be settled. Right? Well, wrong; people seem to
want to know about the sexuality of other characters in the main titles
and of those in spin-off titles. And so, the debates continue.

For years, Marvel had one officially gay mutant, which was Northstar of
Alpha Flight. That's it. Technically, he wasn't even an X-Man until his
stint in Uncanny circa UXM #392.

Unofficial, but well accepted, was the Mystique-Destiny relationship.
Marvel tried not to admit it, but Claremont did, and enough in-comic
evidence exists to be certain on that score. For years, the most
definitive evidence was UXM #254. In it, Irene said, "This is Raven as
I know her, the spirit-soul within my dearest friend--full of strength
and courage and passion--that I have loved from the moment we met."
Later, Mystique said, "Irenie? You had a rough night..is anything the
matter?" You can work it out for herself how Mystique would know that.
In UXM #265, the Shadow King referred to Destiny as Mystique's leman--an
archaic word meaning "lover"--which Chris Claremont seemed to have
sneaked in under the censors' radar. As of the X-Men Forever miniseries
(2001), the two are officially out of the closet, since the recap in
issue #5 clearly states that Irene was Raven's lover. X-Treme X-Men #1
concurs; Mystique is referred to as Destiny's "true love." Raven has had
two children, of course, so there's strong evidence that she could be
bisexual. She was a member of X-Factor, so she technically counts as an
X-Man.

The character Bloke in the relaunched X-Force title was identified as
gay. His media packet in X-Force #117 covered a range of stereotypes (he
lived in San Francisco, liked musicals, and used to be rainbow-colored
before he turned bright pink). His kiss with a male mutant boyfriend in
X-Force #118 confirmed it. Unfortunately, as with most characters in the
relaunched X-Force team, Bloke's tenure was rather short-lived. Newer
team members Phat and Vivisector at first seemed to be joking about being
a gay couple (in order to gain more publicity), but as of issue #129 it
was pretty clear that they "did the deed." In X-Statix #4, they finally
decided that, while gay, they weren't actually interested in each other.

The character Xi'an Coy Manh was another character whose sexuality was
debated. X-Force #75 brought Karma in with short pink hair and female
roommates in Greenwich Village. Conversation between her and Dani then
suggested that Xi'an was a lesbian. Xi'an confirmed it herself in New
Mutants (vol. 2) #4, where she also seems to have a crush on Kitty Pryde.

The character of Mariko/Sunfire in Exiles revealed that she was gay in
Exiles #11, but the title is not one of the core titles, and is set in
an alternative universe.

Speculation runs rampant regarding the sexuality of other X-characters,
but here are the favorite candidates:

* Hank McCoy. The events of his mutation into a more lion-like,
bestial form left Hank feeling like "a Hindu sex god." After his
longtime girlfriend Trish Tilby broke up with him because she felt
the "bestiality" publicity would hurt her TV journalism career,
Hank told her that he thought he might be gay. The line, in NXM
#125, could be read sarcastically or literally. As of NXM #134,
he admits that he is just playing along with the media, and not
contradicting what anyone is saying about his sexuality.

* Bobby Drake. He is by far one of the most mentioned as living in
the closet. "Evidence" hinges on his lack of steady relationships,
his lack of self-confidence, and the fact that he hasn't lived up
to his potential. His confrontation with the White Queen in UXM
#331 is also popular, where she says, "You finally realized you're
not cut out to be an X-Man, so you've decided to use your mutant
ability to pursue your first love: Interior decorating?" This is
less flimsy that it might seem, since she has occupied his body,
but hardly definitive. His relationship with Opal Tanaka is used as
evidence both for and against, depending on how you rationalize
their breakup. Bobby also had some strong sexual tension in his
later dealings with Emma Frost, circa Generation X #57, where they
attend a school dance together. In UXM #415, Northstar says that
although he has a crush on Iceman, Bobby doesn't seem to be gay.

* Ororo Munroe. Primary evidence here is X-Men Annual #11, where her
heart's desire is to run off with Yukio. Supplementary to this is
the fact that she completely turned her life around after running
around with her for an evening (UXM #172-173), and Contest of
Champions II #1, where Yukio and Storm meet again. If you buy the
Storm and Yukio relationship, Yukio seems all for it. Otherwise
Storm's relationship with Forge has been difficult, but over a long
period of time. Again, she could be bisexual.

* Dani Moonstar. Primarily, see X-Force #75. Circumstantial evidence
for Dani's homosexuality or bisexuality has been sprinkled in other
issues of X-Force, but never as heavily as #75.

* Kitty Pryde. See her interaction with Karma in the Mechanix mini,
where fans see potential in her words to Karma that Kitty's "not
sure she feels that way" in response to Karma's crush on her.
Kitty's probably hetero, due to her numerous crushes on guys and her
relationship with Pete Wisdom over in Excalibur, but numerous fans
saw a potential seduction of her by Saturnyne/Courtney Ross in
earlier issues of that title.

* Shatterstar. His highly emotional attachment to Rictor is proof for
most. Others counter that he isn't of Western culture, so his
emotions aren't necessarily as repressed. On the other hand, X-
Force #56 indicates that his relationship with Rictor is much
deeper than friendship; the caption says "She has lost Warpath.
He [Shatterstar] has lost Rictor. Both see these missing
teammates as 'friends.' Both too stubborn to admit they may mean
more than that."

Other names bandied about frequently include Magik, Rachel, and most of
the X-Men universe at one time or another. Mr. Sinister's similarity to
Frank N. Furter (of Rocky Horror) has also been noted on many occasions.

The great trick with the discussion of gay X-Men is to avoid turning it
into a flamewar. Discuss it by all means; just be aware this is a hot
button for many people on both ends of the spectrum.


 

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