Comicon Pride: Tito’s Thoughts On Queerness In Geek Culture
by Tito W. James
2025 marks the first decade of legalized gay marriage in the United States. Since then, we have seen more openly queer characters and I wanted to shed some light on my experience with queerness in Pop Culture.
We have several iconic couples including: Vi and Caitlyn, Korra and Asami, Harley and Ivy, and Princess Bubblegum and Marceline. Wonder Woman is canonically bisexual and Deadpool is widely accepted as pansexual. Behind the scenes, the definitive Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy came out as gay. Marlon Brando, the actor who played Superman’s father was openly bisexual, and now Superman’s son, Jonathan Kent is bisexual within the comics. The world of comics and Pop Culture are more openly queer and it’s astounding that there is a queer component to the most iconic superheroes in fiction– Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman!
Any hardcore anime fan will notice the queer subtext within series like Magical Girl Madoka, Promare, and Ranma 1/2. The anime and manga space has provided grounded queer stories like My Brother’s Husband as well as escapist stories like Qualia the Purple. Additionally, “Boys Love” and “Girls Love” stories are selling like hotcakes in the United States and are being embraced by readers of every stripe.
I’m very excited to see more queer characters within comics and manga, but I believe the biggest cultural change is going to come from new original creations. That’s why I’m so thrilled by the success of Hazbin Hotel which has opened the door to more indie animation with queer elements like The Amazing Digital Circus and Far-Fetched. What’s great about these shows is that they connect to young adults of every background while having the added appeal of being a bit edgy.
While there has been a rise in queer representation and visibility, there has also been a rise in book bans that target queer themes. There’s a lot of work to do to reach a world without homophobia. However, I believe that a world without homophobia is more possible than humans colonizing other planets. We simply need to say as a creative community, and as wider humanity, that love is love– and love is the answer.
