WorldNetDaily columnist Michael Brown doesn’t like LGBT people (despite his insisting otherwise), so when a comic character was revealed to be bisexual, Brown had to spend his Aug. 13 column complaining about it:
In case you haven’t heard the news, Robin of “Batman and Robin” fame has been outed as bisexual. And in case you were unsure if he was simply exploring his sexuality or had determined for sure that he was bi, DC Comics made it official: “Tim Drake [the third Robin in the series] dates boys.” Robin now joins more than 65 other LGBTQ+ superheroes and villains – but be assured, no one has any agenda at all. Who would think such a thing?
Ten years ago, I wrote an article titled, “‘Mutant’ as a Codeword for ‘Gay’ in the X-Men Movies,” claiming that “the movies, along with the comic books, draw many clear parallels between the mutants and the gay and lesbian community.”
After the article came out, I was ridiculed on some gay LGBTQ websites for stating the obvious. “Of course ‘mutant’ stands for ‘gay,'” I was told. “You’re just discovering this?”
But, of course, no one has an agenda to promote the agenda, and no producers or screenwriters in Hollywood are trying to indoctrinate anyone. Perish the thought.
It’s the same with the comic book industry. No one has an agenda, and there’s no attempt to indoctrinate or influence the readers. It’s just a coincidence that, as of 2017, there were 65 LGBTQ+ superheroes and villains. And it’s just happenstance that last year, the first, major transgender superhero was announced on Marvel Comics. No agenda at all!
Does he think his anti-LGBT rantings are part of an agenda? Or that portrayal of a fictional character as heterosexual is part of an agenda? Probably not — he considers those defaults and ideals that everyone automatically is, and that anyone who doesn’t fit that mold are evil deviants who must be forcibly converted.
He concluded his column insisting — despite all other evidence in his column to the contrary — that he understands that LGBT people are marginalized, though they really should be compelled somehow to be right-wing Christians like him:
All sarcasm aside, I’m sure that people who are marginalized by the society see themselves in characters who appear in film and in writing, and that gives them a sense of identification. As always, my hope for each of them is that they find God’s purpose for their lives and discover full acceptance with Him, regardless of how society treats them.
At the same time, we would have to be utterly naïve to think that many of the comic book writers (along with their counterparts in film) have not had clear and definite agendas. And we shouldn’t be surprised when young comic book readers want to be like their favorite superhero, not just in terms of their superpowers but in terms of their sexuality.
He still doesn’t get it. And he’ll never admit that what he’s pushing is an agenda too.