Put Some POW! in Your Pride

While the LGBT community is abuzz, aglow, and atwitter with the arrival of yet another Pride, let’s not forget another massive community event happening a superpowered hop, skip, and jump away: DENVER COMIC CON! The geek community and culture has always had a fond place in my heart, and I won’t hesitate to admit that I’ll likely choose to attend Denver Comic Con over Pride if you pointed a phaser at my head (please don’t discontinue my Cylon model for saying that). I’m certainly not advocating that you scrap your Pride festivities this year, but I am saying that you should at least carve out some time to swing by the Colorado Convention Center on Pride weekend. And here are a few reasons why.

Cosplay

You think gay men and drag queens wear some of the most inventive and insane outfits? You ain’t seen nothin’ til you’ve witnessed the sartorial extravaganza that is cosplay. For the uninitiated, cosplay simply means costume play. Ever wanted to dress up as your favorite comic book, video game, anime, movie, or sci-fi/fantasy character when it’s months away from Halloween? At Comic Con you’re encouraged to dress up as Captain America, Nightwing, Edward Elric, Solid Snake, or anyone else who strikes your geeky fancy. What’s more is that it’s not uncommon for gay geeks to dress up as their favorite character but with 80-percent less clothing!

Broaden Your Horizons

Just as there are subcultures and worlds within worlds in the LGBT community, the same is true of the geek community. You’ve got gamers, Trekkies, otakus, fanboys/girls, Ringers, Browncoats, and many more I simply don’t have the space or knowledge of to explain. Just as your Great-Aunt Gertrude likely can’t tell the difference between a silver daddy and a twunk, the same could be true for you when it comes to geek subcultures. To clear up the haze of confusion and make yourself look like the overflowing font of knowledge I know you are, don’t be afraid to ask cosplayers who they’re dressed up as or Comic Con attendees who they geek out about. Not only is this an opportunity to edumacate yourself, it’s also a great way to spark up a conversation with that cute girl or guy who lights up your Bat-signal. The fastest way to a geek’s heart is through his/her brain.

Witness Pride From the Other Side

Comic Con is a time of geek pride. While we geeks know there are others out there who are just as passionate about science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and video games as we are, there’s something heartwarming and soul-stirring about coming together with those individuals and feeling the collective vibration that binds us all together. That same feeling exists when the LGBT community comes together to celebrate and rejoice at how far we’ve come since the Stonewall riots. While the geek community may not have gone through the same struggles as the gay community, parents may have just as hard of a time accepting a child who cosplays as they do a child who’s gay. Take the opportunity to see how another community shows its pride and unity.

The great thing about these reasons is you don’t even have to buy a Comic Con ticket, which can be a little pricey even for a single day. If you are interested in checking out the Con, I recommend going on Saturday when the geeks will be out in full technicolor force. No matter when you go, there’s bound to be a distinct lack of secret identities.

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LGBT Comic Book Characters Who Give Us a Sense of Pride

Because Comic Con coincides with this year’s Pride, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get my geek on and write about gay comic-book characters. Comic books and graphic novels provide us with a creative lens through which to experience everyday life with a unique twist. What’s it like to live in a world where your parents would rather you be born gay than a mutant, or vice versa? What’s it like being in a same-sex relationship with an individual who can accidentally kill you with super strength if s/he becomes a bit too passionate during lovemaking? Thanks to the following LGBT comic-book characters, it’s a bit easier to imagine the impossibilities.

Midnighter

I have to start this list with one of my absolute favorite gay comic-book characters. Imagine the fighting prowess of a Batman with enhanced reflexes and a network of cybernetic implants running through his body and a combat computer for a brain and you’ve got Lucas Trent/Midnighter. This gritty vigilante isn’t afraid to serve up an extra bloody serving of justice, and he’s not afraid to profess his love for husband Apollo, who is essentially an ivory-haired Superman.

Mystique

What I find most fascinating about Mystique/Raven Darkholme is that her sexuality is just as fluid as her shapeshifting abilities. Are you really a lesbian if you can shapeshift into a man? To be fair, Mystique can be classified as bisexual since she’s had relationships with men and women, but her one true love is the precognitive Destiny. If that doesn’t have the makings of one of the most intricate and mind-bending love stories ever told …

Northstar

Jean-Paul Beaubier/Northstar is one of the more high-profile gay comic book characters. In addition to his principal powers of super-strength and super-speed, Beaubier is also a skilled athlete, businessman, and writer. What’s so groundbreaking about Northstar is that he was Marvel’s first openly gay character, and his was the first gay marriage to grace the pages of a Marvel comic books. The guy simply doesn’t believe in half-measures.

Batwoman

There seems to be someone new joining the Batfamily every incarnation, but can you really blame them? Kate Kane stealth-walked her way onto the DC stage in 2006 with the publisher’s limited 52 series. In addition to donning a fetching scarlet and black suit, Kate also brought her military training with her to Gotham City where Batman inspired her to become a crimefighter, making time to date Detective Renee Montoya and eventually marry her girlfriend when she wasn’t handlin’ her business in the streets and on rooftops.

Deadpool

That’s right, your favorite Merc With a Mouth is part of the LGBT community. To be completely fair, Deadpool is pansexual rather than gay or bisexual, but let’s not make this more complicated than it needs to be. What this means is he doesn’t let gender or sex determine who he’s attracted to, but rather whatever makes his demented little brain stop and take notice. If you’re lookin’ for a boyfriend who cracks ribald and offensive jokes and is delightfully mentally unhinged, then I might have found your guy. Just don’t blame me when he leaves you for the teddy bear across the hall. You know the one with that saucy lil’ bow around its neck.

While there are many more mainstream and indie LGBT comic-book characters for you to explore, these are some of the more well-known. These men and women may only be fictional, but they give us sense of pride and wonder that’s quite real.