GL is Gay. My 2cents.

As many have heard by now, DC Comics has made a move they claimed to be bold and a huge change. They made GL gay. Not Hal Jordan. They turned the alternate universe Green Lantern, Alan Scott, gay. Cheap move. All hype, no substance. It made me sick. Not only that, but it opens huge plot holes. If Alan Scott is gay, where did Jade and Obsidian come from?


This was a gimmick just to jump on the publicity of Obama supporting gay marriage. Gay for the sale of being gay is OFFENSIVE. Make it believable. Make it make sense. Make it MEAN something.


If I were going to turn any DC character gay, it WOULD be a GL. But not Alan Scott. Here's my opinion.


I want to say, first and foremost, this is NOT a bash on homosexuals. I fully support the freedom to choose whom you love, have sex with, and marry. I have gay friends. I have gay family members. The first date my wife and I went on was to a drag show to support a friend of mine who was performing.

Secondly, but I feel in context of this forum this is equally important, this is NOT a bash on Kyle Rayner. You guys know how I feel about him. I've made that quite clear. What some of you may not know is that, because I dislike him, I've avoided a lot of his books. I feel like that did me a disservice, because I could not argue points as intelligently. I recently read all of Kyle's main run as GL. From the issue where he gets his ring to the end of Vol. 3. I still need to read the Crisis where Jade dies and Kyle becomes Ion again, but that's the only gap I'm missing.


Now then. To my point. I've joked about Kyle being gay just to get a rise out of Kyle-fans. Kyle-ites? Kyle-ians? Kylers? I digress. Upon reading Kyle's main GL run I've come to some decisions and I'd like your honest opinions.




I think Kyle is in the closet. I don't think he's even come out to himself yet. Here are some reasons why. Keep in mind, I'm not joking, I'm not making fun, I am completely and totally SERIOUS.


Kyle's always been known the "sensitive" lantern. He's even been joked about in other books, I don't remember who it was, but I remember a character in the Search for Ray Palmer story arc, I think it was, saying in terms of getting all emotional and in-touch with feelings, they replied "If that's what I'd wanted, I'd go talk to Kyle Rayner." Sensitive does not equal gay. However, the majority of homosexual men, stereotypically, tend to be more sensitive than straight men. But stay with me.


He makes an over-abundance of female constructs. Yes, as a straight man, I think I'd make female constructs too. But not as often and not in the same contexts that Kyle does. Hal, John, and Guy have made female constructs occasionally; Guy more so. But it's an accent to a point they're making. Kyle... makes a french maid to help his mom clean the kitchen? How is that appropriate? What is he trying to prove with that? I just feel like he's making them a little TOO often. Like he's trying too hard. "Look at me! I like boobs! Here's a boob! There's a boob! Naked wimmenz! I likez them!"




His choice in women and the way he handles relationships. Let's break it down.

Alex. From his first issue as Green Lantern, we found out that he and Alex's relationship was not going well. In fact, they had broken up a week before. So Kyle tries to use his new status as a way to repair a broken relationship. Alex died, in my opinion, before Kyle could mess it up further.

Donna. Being an artist is not an excuse for having a naked woman in your apartment, alone, behind your girlfriend's back. There was NO good excuse for Allison being there. Donna was amazing. Supportive. One of the best things that ever could have happened to Kyle. And he continuously messed it up. I think, subconsciously, on purpose.

Jade. He ditched Jade at HIS gallery to go KISS Donna. There are so many things wrong there. But they made up. And he tried to screw it up again. He tried to rush into marrying her just because things seemed to be going well for... what? a couple weeks? Then Kyle wanted to run away into outer space and asked his girlfriend to leave her friends, family, and everything she knew and loved as "home" behind to go with him. That's a huge, huge favor to ask of something, even a girlfriend. Maybe ESPECIALLY a girlfriend. Then Jade decides she can't hang in space anymore. So instead of returning the favor that he asked of her, and offering to return home with her, he let her go home alone. And THEN didn't bother even TRYING to contact her for MONTHS. Yes, Jade didn't help that relationship. But I think Kyle did everything he could to sabotage it. Because he's gay.

Soranik Natu. What's wrong with Natu? She's pretty. Capable. Independent. Intelligent. Oh. And she happens to be the daughter of the Green Lantern Corps #1 enemy, Sinestro. No mention of Kyle and Natu until AFTER Natu found out she Sinestro's kid. Kyle went after Sinestro's daughter. Like -THAT'S- not setting yourself up for a disaster!? Sure, love conquers all, you try hard enough, any relationship will work, but you don't go picking out the hardest relationship you can find and say "THAT'S the one I want!" Come on.

The next point is about when he ditched Earth with Jade. He did so because he claimed he'd "lost faith in humanity" for the gay-hate-crime again his assistant Terry. Was it horrible? Yes. It was a terrible thing to happen. But to completely leave the GALAXY? To write off the whole planet? To the point that when the woman you love, after being gone with you for months AND going through a pregnancy scare, wants to go back, you'll let her leave without you? That's a bit of an over-reaction, don't you think? I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to his subconcious going "Holy crap. This is what I'm facing. I could be dealing with this right here."


I was talking about Kyle's past relationships and his girlfriends, and I made the joke that I wish Terry would find Kyle a nice fireman, paramedic, or someone who could understand when Kyle had to go running after an emergency. Now, that was a joke.

But the more and more I think about it. The more and more I think it's not a bad idea. All of these points I've brought up do NOT equal "gay". But it's not that far fetched. Sensitive, overplaying the "straight guy", sabotaging his own relationships over and over and over, constantly trying to "find himself" or not being "good enough" like there's something missing... He's in the closet. Even to himself.

And his uniforms? Come on. He's changed costumes more times than any super hero he's dated. And that first Ion costume? I think I saw Elton John wearing that on his last concert. (Okay, maybe I'm kidding here. A little. :P )

Now, okay. GOOD relationships don't sell comic books. But if I were going to put Kyle in a relationship where I think he'd be happiest, grow the best, and not only support the other person but BE supported... I think I'd hook Kyle up with a gay man.


Now, remember. No gay bashing. No Kyle bashing, but I think this is a serious, grown-up discussion and if everyone takes it as such, it shouldn't get out of hand. Honestly, what are you thoughts?

I will say that when I first heard "green lantern is gay", I immediately thought of Hal Jordan. He IS Green Lantern to me. I didn't like it. It changed too much of the character. However, I could see ways to justify that change far before I could see it in Alan Scott.