So...Bobby's gay now?

I clearly have no idea what Marvel is doing.

It sounds like Bobby Drake has come out of the closet...

Ramifications ensue.

Homosexuality in comics is an ongoing issue, and one that I hope continues to happen more and more. There's nowhere nearly enough LGBTQ representation in comics. Certainly not in Marvel and DC. 

 

Having long-term characters reveal their sexual orientation? Fine. 

But must Marvel use mutant characters? 

Stan Lee's creation of the X-Men allowed readers from all walks of life to relate to them. These were the "misfits" of society. These were the people treated unfairly by those in power. Every minority could relate to them: people of different ethnicities, religions...and sexual preferences. 

So why beat us all over the head by making another mutant character gay?

I remember Northstar.

His big revelation came when I was reading the series, and I thought it was about damn time. If you read the early John Byrne stuff it's obvious, and it bugged me that it took roughly 100 issues to bring him out.

Then there was Shatterstar...

...and Rictor.

This was after I stopped reading, but I remember the characters from when I was reading, and I thought "well, Marvel does need to bring more variety into their universe". 

This, unfortunately, feels like a grab for media attention.

It's not the fact that it's Bobby, a character going back to the Stan Lee era, that bothers me. It's because he's a mutant. I honestly don't know if there are any LGBTQ characters in the Marvel Universe that aren't mutants, and that's the problem. 

Revealing a non-mutant character would tell a better story - some established hero (or villain) who hasn't had to deal with being "different" their entire lives...learning to deal with being "different". Mutants are used to being hated, feared, distrusted, and alone. 

Why not have someone who's never gone through that, go through that?