1st, a comic book has created a gay character, and is a victim of "gay-bashing"...and that's pretty interesting.

2nd, the cartoonist is non other than Judd Winick from the San Francisco episode of "The Real World" where cast-mate Pedro Zamora died of AIDS. Read on:

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Green Lantern Fights Gay-Bashing
Tue Aug 13, 5:24 PM ET
By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - The comic book company that created Superman and Batman has a cutting-edge new story line: a gay teen-ager is the victim of a hate crime.

DC Comics' "Green Lantern" No. 154 hits newsstands on Sept. 11 — with main character Terry Berg beaten almost to death on a street.

Terry actually emerged as a gay character in 2001 in issue No. 137, which was cited by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation as the year's best comic book. Terry is a sidekick to Kyle Rayner — aka Green Lantern — whose emerald ring gives him with supernatural powers that keep New Yorkers safe.

"Terry came out because he had a crush on Kyle. Who wouldn't? He's tall, with all those muscles," says cartoonist Judd Winick, who created the gay character at the suggestion of DC comics editor Bob Schreck, also responsible for the "Batman" series.

Schreck "knew I'd be pretty sensitive to gay issues," says Winick, 32, who is married and lives in San Francisco.

He was a cast member of MTV's "Real World," a documentary-style show that detailed the lives of a group of people living in the same house.

Winick's "Real World" roommate was Pedro Zamora, a nationally known AIDS activist who died in 1994. Their friendship inspired Winick's comic-book story "Pedro and Me."

If there's a lesson in dropping gay issues into "Green Lantern," one of DC's flagship titles, "it might be that it would be great for young people to see that the Green Lantern doesn't care that Terry is gay. He's a person," says the cartoonist.

"Terry represents acceptance. And now, in this hate crime, we're discussing the worst side of the gay issue."

In issue No. 154, the teen-ager and his boyfriend are walking down the street when three men start yelling out a derogatory anti-gay word and chasing them. They catch up with Terry, who's brutally beaten.

Though he's a main character whose gay lifestyle is a running thread in the comic series, it's not the first time the comic book industry touches on gay issues.

The 1993 coming-out of Marvel Comics' Northstar, of the Canadian X-Men group Alpha Flight, was a sensation. X-Men characters Mystique and Destiny had an implied lesbian relationship, and the Green Lantern features lesbian supporting characters Lee and Li.

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I find this very interesting and hope that more media (in print, television & film) take an interest in creating more gay characters who find themselves in everyday battles of discrimination and hate crimes...it's not all comedy!

4 the haterz...(and I know there will b on this thread)Open ur mind people, just because u don't agree with someone's lifestyle, don't condemn them 2 ridicule and hatred based on ur narrow views.

4 those who like 2 beat on people based solely on their color or sexual orientation...I pray 4 u. Life's 2 short, don't live it being afraid of what's around the corner or next door 2 u. Take a chance...get 2 know that person. U may b surprised.

Thanks, June7! If we had a GD forum, I was going to post this as well. But, alas... we don't.

Oh, and Northstar was 92. Silly reporters

Good for DC Comics, sounds like they're taking some chances with this, too. Last time i checked, they were owned by AOL/Time Warner, and likely could've killed this project on arrival.

mrchristian said:

They're killing a bunch of projects involving Tibet, because AOL is looking for business in China.

Not to mention the digusting way they treated the Authority because of it's portrayal of superheroes in a same-sex relationship.