- Freedom Ring – Introduced in Marvel Team-Up #21 (May 2006), he is violently killed in Marvel Team-Up #24 (September 2006). Series is cancelled with #25.

- Northstar – Between February 16th and March 9th, 2005, THREE versions of Northstar were killed in three separate Marvel realities: Wolverine #25; X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #2; X-Men: The End. The "main" Northstar is resurrected from the dead as a villain in Wolverine #26. Current whereabouts unknown.

- Wiccan & Hulkling — 2 of 3 characters singled out for torture in Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways (September 2006).

- Karolina Dean — now appearing in Runaways, the third of three characters tortured in Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways (September 2006).

- Frenchie DuChamp— the previously womanizing alcoholic sidekick of Moon Knight is revealed to be gay in Moon Knight #3 (June 2006), is now a double-amputee, and is nearly beaten to death with his prosthetic leg.

- Ultimate Jarvis – killed in Ultimates Vol. II #9 (Dec. 2005)

- Minor characters Flatman and Living Lightning, both outed in GLA in mid-2005 have appeared in current Civil War books. They are not yet dead, nor tortured.

- Ultimate Northstar and Colossus — currently appearing in Ultimate X-Men. Colossus apparently "came out" in issue #65 (January 2006), Northstar in #46 (May 2004).

Oy. That supercloset's looking safer and safer, an odd situation in a comics company that made its mark with characters that were all outsiders, misunderstood, human. You GLBT heroes might want to head over to DC and hook up with their new lesbian Batwoman. Safety in numbers…

George Takei, who as helmsman Sulu steered the Starship Enterprise through three television seasons and six movies, has come out as a homosexual in the current issue of Frontiers, a biweekly Los Angeles magazine covering the gay and lesbian community.

Takei told The Associated Press on Thursday that his new onstage role as psychologist Martin Dysart in "Equus," helped inspire him to publicly discuss his sexuality.

[...]

"The world has changed from when I was a young teen feeling ashamed for being gay," he said. "The issue of gay marriage is now a political issue. That would have been unthinkable when I was young."

=============================

I'm guessing this is not a big discovery for his friends and family if he's been with a guy for 18 years, but now I'm wondering what happens with his career. Does the Federation have a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy?

God spoke with the roar of revving motorcycle engines during a protest Tuesday by six members of a Kansas church that believes God is punishing the U.S. for protecting homosexuals by killing soldiers overseas.

Chelsea residents, however, believed God spoke on their behalf as the engines of more than 100 Veterans of Foreign Wars motorcycles drowned out the voices of the Westboro Baptist Church members who were allowed to protest from 1-1:30 p.m. before the 2 p.m. funeral services for Staff Sgt. John Glen Doles.

—————————

This cheered me immensely. Maybe a group of people will start following Rev Fred around just to drown him out…

In its annual report, GLAAD estimated that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) characters represent less than 2 percent of all characters in the 2005-06 television season on the broadcast networks, and most of those are in "wacky" neighbor roles.

It has reason to be disappointed, I think. Homosexual and transgendered people do live among us and, amazingly enough, also have troubles and issues and challenges and triumphs. The complaint that LGBT characters are almost always unfair and insulting stereotypes is a completely valid one.

Or it would be if gay people were the only ones being stereotyped.

Pretty much everyone is stereotyped on television. Let's look at the new television season and try to find the following people:

Husbands who cannot be described with the term "bumbling."

Wives who cannot be described with the term "zany."

Children who are not consistently smarter/funnier/wiser than their parents/guardians.

Teenage boys who read instead of playing video games until their eyes bleed.

Teenage girls who are not focused with laser-like intensity on clothes.

Twins who can be identified right off by other people who know them.

Pregnant women who actually sweat and may even, in extreme medical emergency circumstances, muss their hair during childbirth.

People who stop and clear up misunderstandings by talking instead of concocting zany schemes involving window-washers' scaffolding to discover the truth.

Sitcom families that live in a house their apparent income might actually afford.

Households that do not look as if a professional cleaning crew was just off camera.

Single men in the dating scene who are not pathetic or predatory.

Single women in the dating scene who are not conniving or predatory.

Single people, of any age, who are somehow not singularly obsessed with sex at all times, even during open-heart surgery.

Asexual characters with no particular interest in sex at all.

People who truly enjoy their jobs and/or employers.

Police officers, federal agents, or investigators who don't break the rules, rough up suspects, or defy their supervisors, yet somehow manage to solve crimes anyway.

Politicians and government employees who care about the public and don't try to murder anyone who discovers the nefarious schemes they don't have.

Doctors who are neither saintly, tireless combaters of Death's touch nor arrogant, in-it-for-the-money snobs who deserve a comeuppance.

Openly religious characters on a show without "God," "Heaven," or "Angel" in the title.

Vegetarians who aren't tie-dyed, long-haired, hippie throwbacks.

People interested in science fiction who also have rich and active social lives.

People in suits who listen to country music.

Large, muscular men who don't like sports, beer, or NASCAR.

Women who don't like shopping.

Food service employees who are hard-working, courteous, and intelligent.

People who are "into" computers but are inexplicably incapable of such a simple thing as hacking into the city's power grid.

Minority characters who are neither blatantly stereotypical nor indistinguishable from standard, bland white characters with a tan.

Female news anchors with less than 3 pounds of makeup.

News anchors, male or female, whose hair cannot repel small arms fire.

I'm not suggesting GLAAD stop its efforts; I'd like to see television writers avoid any stereotypes at all, especially ones that only became stereotypes because they kept showing up on TV.

However, they might try what I do. Whenever I watch TV. I imagine that one out of every five straight people depicted really is gay, they're just denying it to themselves and their loved ones. I don't know if GLAAD is considering the possibility of utterly closeted, self-fooling characters, but that might up the percentages a bit.

By the way, this technique also works at office parties, family gatherings, political rallies, and while taking mass transit. It's fun and, for all I know, accurate.

And wacky!

Or, as we put it around here, Homophobe Nightmare movies (HNM). See, we've got an acquaintance with a serious macho attitude, the type that cannot tolerate the concept of male homosexuality (although female homosexuality is pretty cool), and in fact gets infuriated when the slightest joke is made about his own masculinity. We, of course, are sensitive to his feelings, and respect his opinion as we respect all diversity, even those we disagree with.

But here's some of the movies we play, purely by happy accident, whenever he's around. To be a true HNM it can't just be about homosexuality or even guys in dresses. The Wedding Banquet is a hilarious film about a gay man, but it doesn't give your average homophobe the right queasy feeling. Some Like It Hot and Tootsie are great and funny movies that have men in drag, but it's obvious that the men are wearing frilly outfits as a desperation move, and not because they felt like being pretty. Pink Flamingos is funny and has a transvestite, but getting all the way through it could be seen as a heroic achievement all by itself and not right for our purposes. And The Crying Game is a perfect homophobe nightmare movie, but it's not funny, and hence ineligible for any list on this island. No, we want the funny movies that make macho men uncomfortable, uneasy, uncertain, and fun to watch.

Jeffrey

1995. Starring Stephen Weber, Michael T. Weiss, Patrick Stewart, and a buncha cameos.

Based on the play, Jeffrey is about a gay man's attempt to avoid love and sex. So naturally he finds the perfect guy an hour or so later, and spends the movie running from his destiny. But what it's really about, as far as I'm concerned, is watching Captain Picard play Sterling, a gay man with impeccable taste and all the best lines. Ideal homophobe terror movie, not least because there are several near-explicit sex scenes and lots of manly kissing. Oh, and it's also poignant and fun.

To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everytthing, Julie Newmar

1995. Starring Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo.

Acquaintance actually borrowed this one because he saw "To Wong Foo" and the cast and figured it was a kung fu flick. Unfortunately we weren't there to see the reaction, because these manly he-man look smashing in drag. Miss Vida Boheme (Swayze) and MIss Noxeema Jackson (Snipes) head cross-country for a drag contest, taking along MIss Chi-Chi Rodriguez (Leguizamo) in an ongoing drag queen training session. Along the way they get harassed by a cop (at first love-struck, then just struck) and finally get stuck in a hick town that isn't quite sure what to make of these cosmopolitan ladies. If it it wasn't funny as hell, it's worth it just to watch these action heroes in chiffon, in style.

The Birdcage

1996. Starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.

Based on the movie and musical La Cage aux Folles, but while I love that one too, this version is (in my anglophile opinion) funnier. For one thing I didn't have to read any subtitles, and for another Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as a nightclub owner and his lover/star attraction bear an uncanny resemblance to me and my wife. Okay, we don't run a successful drag nightclub, and we don't have a cool house in South Beach, and I'm pretty sure that Teres is a real girl, but other than that.

Plot: A gay cabaret owner and his female impersonating companion agree to put a false straight front so their son can introduce them to his fiance's right-wing moralistic parents. Highlights: all the dialogue between Williams and Lane (especially when they're trying to act straight), Hank Azaria as a wildly flagrant manservant, and Gene Hackman as a right-wing moralizer who ultimately looks scrumptious in a platinum wig.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

1994. Starring Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce.

Two drag queens and a transsexual get a gig in the middle of the Australian desert and head off in a barely-running bus across the wild. Full of humor, style, music, bitching, fashion tips (Texas Chainsaw Mascara!), song, rustic hicks, fights, the biggest fucking high-heeled shoe in the world, and a woman with an amazing bar trick involving ping pong balls. But most of all it's got General Zod from Superman as a transsexual, and here in our homophobe nightmare party that's the bit we're looking for. He's great.

Coming next week: In & Out, Wigstock, The Ritz, Female Trouble, Sum of Us, Relax, It's Just Sex, Threesome, Bedrooms & Hallways, Queer As Folk, Chasing Amy, The Broken Hearts Club, and many more! Also, how you can put on Paris is Burning if your homophobe just won't leave.