A R T S & C U LT U R E
Comic Book Mutants and the LGBT Community By
Malcolm J Carey IV
I remember the first comic book that I ever read. As a child I wasn’t terribly interested in comic books or superheroes; I preferred high fantasy stories. That changed the day that my younger brother left a copy of Uncanny X-Men #303 (August 1993) in my room by accident. I opened it, read it, and was instantly enthralled by the story of a young mutant dying from a virus that seemed to specifically target mutants. The heart of the issue was the death of Colossus’s little sister Illyana, the latest victim of the Legacy virus. No one knew where it came from. The X-Men universe seemed to be in a state of confusion and turmoil. Typical battles with supervillains suddenly became sidelined by an invisible plague tearing through the population. In 1993, shortly after the height of the AIDS crisis, this story resonated with me. As the story climaxes, the Legacy Virus mutates and begins killing humans. As with HIV, the spread of the disease to the broader population was necessary to finally draw the world’s attention to what had been previously considered a ‘mutant problem’. Eventually, Colossus makes the ultimate sacrifice with the help of a human scientist and purges the world of the Legacy virus in the process – a fantasy ending to an allegory for a horrific piece of gay history. Unlike stereotypical comic books, X-Men is not a story of good guys versus bad guys. Rather, it is about the history of human rights and oppression as explored through the lens of mutants. Even as a young boy I could see that the story that they were telling was bigger than huge muscles and skintight costumes. Many LGBT youth live double lives – presenting as heterosexual to the world while hiding their secret LGBT identity. Staying closeted evolves into a massively complicated job of people management, tracking who knows the secret identity and what topics are safe to broach in different circles. LGBT youth still need to ace their classes and to deal with the standard burdens of adolescence, just as the X-Men still need to stop the random super villain in any given issue, while also bearing the additional burden of constantly worrying about letting their mask slip off. 144 | Boston Pride 2017
Just as some LGBT youth are kicked out and forced to live on the street because their parents don’t understand them, young mutants face familial rejection. Kitty Pryde came from a wealthy family that sent her to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in order to rid themselves of their mutant daughter. In the film universe, Angel, one of the founding members of the X-Men in the comics, deals with an extreme version of familial rejection, when his mutant-hating father develops a ‘cure’ reminiscent of conversion therapy, since he cannot accept his son’s identity. X-Men even touches on themes of religious persecution of LGBT people. Staunchly religious William Stryker, known from the movies as the man who gave Wolverine his adamantium skeleton, believes that mutants were sent by the devil and are a blight on humanity
Comic books have long attracted LGBT readers, who see their lives reflected in the lives of superheroes.
Credit: Nadeika.
