Super Cool: DC Comics Introduces Gay Green Lantern, Says LGBT Heroes Are Good For Kids

Alan Scott Green LanternMarvel isn’t the only book in town that’s celebrating diverse characters. Hot on the heels of the Northstar’s wedding announcement comes news that DC Comics is bringing one of its most popular characters out of the closet.

People outside of the comic book world may only be familiar with Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern, but the truth is that many characters have joined the core of protectors from Oa. The very first superhero to wield the ring of power was Alan Scott. And he’s the character who will be re-introduced as a homosexual male in the second issue of Earth 2.

In his original adventures, Scott was always seen as a straight man. He even married and had two kids, one of whom grew up to be the gay superhero Obsidian. But DC has an entire series based on reimagining iconic characters called The New 52. The new Alan Scott will start this series with a completely clean slate, and he’ll just happen to be gay.

Although it might seem like DC is just trying to catch up to Marvel’s big wedding announcement or just following up on President Obama‘s recent endorsement of same-sex marriage, the truth is that Alan Scott’s new role as a gay hero has been in the works for 8 months. The timing just happens to put the new issue in the middle of a little controversy.

As we recently covered, One Million Moms is busy denouncing Marvel (and soon DC, we’re sure) for embracing gay and lesbian heroes. They say that the comic book companies are “using children’s superheroes to desensitize and brainwash them in thinking that a gay lifestyle choice is normal and desirable.”

But the criticism isn’t deterring Marvel or DC. In fact, when discussing the new character with The Daily Beast, DC writer James Robinson said, ”Maybe it’s a good thing if children read comic books and there’s a gay character. Maybe some kid that’s wrestling with his sexuality and is scared sees Alan Scott and thinks, ”˜Oh, this is cool’ and it helps him work it out for himself. Or if a kid reads about Alan Scott and goes, ”˜Wow, Alan Scott’s cool’ and it makes him think twice about bullying some kid in a playground, then that’s a good thing.”

We here at Mommyish couldn’t agree more. We’re happy to see that the writers and artists behind our kids’ favorite superheroes see the importance of creating diverse characters for children to relate to.

We might be even more excited to see Robinson tell One Million Moms exactly what he thinks of their protest. Responding to their statement, he said, ”I don’t think those people have a real handle on society. I bet you they haven’t even picked up a comic. If they want to invoke God and Christianity, I mean, as far as I’m concerned, God and Jesus want tolerance and love for everybody, they don’t want all this hatred and discrimination. I think it’s terrible and they should concentrate on raising their own children and mind their own business.”

If that doesn’t make you want to go out and pick up a comic book, I don’t know what will.

(Photo: BuzzBox)

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