Well, I don't per se see anything wrong with it. To me it seems to simply be more of political statement which really isn't new with X-men, especially when you look at the over all theme between Xavier and Magneto to be very similar some of the ideological ideas of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X respectively. I mean there was also that alternate universe where Wolverine was married to Storm, making a statement for interracial marriage. I don't see anything wrong with any of it.

True, they have been a long standing allegory for equal rights/race relations.

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I'm not even sure it's a political statement any more. Equal marriage is a reality in New York and in other US states, and in more and more countries around the world. It's just depicting things as they are.

More to the point, I think it's sound business sense. I don't know a lot about polling in the US, but in Australia and the UK, generations X, Y and Z are very strong supporters of marriage equality and, in Australia, over 60% of the total population supports it as well. The audience that Marvel wants to gain and keep is made up of a large majority of equal rights supporters, so it makes perfect sense to capitalise on this. Sure, Marvel might lose a few homophobes, but I really doubt it's going to be statistically significant, especially as there have been openly gay characters for a while now. Just as we now look back on the 1960s comics and laugh (and gasp) at their dated representations of women and other cultures and races, one day people will look back on the current era and marvel (ha) that it took this long for the GLBTQ population to begin to be represented.

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I buy that. I definitely agree with their audiences generally being pro gay marriage, or at least not against, so for marvel, it's a no brainer. Plus they know it's good for some publicity.

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I have been reading some comics from the mid 2000s lately, and I am noticing a lot of other gay characters, although they are all girls. I guess while gay men aren't acceptable, no one has problems with lesbians..

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It makes sense to introduce that into continuity with women first. Like you said, most men won't have a problem with lesbians. From there, a gay male or two won't be such a big leap.

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'The soul knows no greater anguish than to take a breath that begins with love and ends with grief.'- Steven Erikson

Yea, although I think the first gay character they introduced was a guy....they didn't make a big deal about it though. Not like the whole wedding business.

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That I was unaware of.

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'The soul knows no greater anguish than to take a breath that begins with love and ends with grief.'- Steven Erikson

well, it was subtext for a long time. They hit at Northstar's preferences in the backup story on like, Alpha Flight #5 (v1).

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I'll be on the lookout for that when I get to that point in the Order.

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'The soul knows no greater anguish than to take a breath that begins with love and ends with grief.'- Steven Erikson