Jacob P. Secrest wrote: Tom, fictional characters can be turned gay, they do nothing they are not written to do, and if a character is written to come out of the closet with nothing prior indicating they were gay, then they have been turned gay, though in real life you would be absolutely right.

Jacob, point taken.  I stand corrected.

I am sorry, but I have to address this.  This is the problem with the world, admittedly ignorant people going on about things they know they do not know.

Why would anyone argue about something they admit thay are not familiar with?

Well, I tried to drop it, but since I am being flamed...  

The real problem is when some gay sensitive people such as yourself call people ignorant just because they don't remember some subtle hints of Northstars gayness from a comic they read 20 years ago.  No one else posting was able to quickly produce any hints either so I guess they were ignorant like me.  I read Alpha Flight back in the 80s as a teenager and I don't remember thinking... Wow Northstar must be gay because he said this or he is drawn like that.  Of course I wasn't looking for any gay "hints" at the time and just wanted to read a good comicbook.  Some people who got "it" were probably more exposed to the gay lifestyle then I was back then.  In closing, I guess those fools at Overstreet Price Guide don't know what they are talking about either because they refer to Alpha Flight issue 106 as Norhtstars "revelation" issue.

Dictionary defines revelation as: Something revealed, especially a dramatic disclosure of something not previously known or realized.

Guess I am not the only ignorant one who didn’t catch the gay hints.  Somebody better drop them a line and get them to change that description.

"No one else posting was able to quickly produce any hints either so I guess they were ignorant like me. "

I produced the hints within about an hour. Sorry I was not at attention right away to give them soon.

"Some people who got "it" were probably more exposed to the gay lifestyle then I was back then. "

I lived in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, population 22,000. Hardly the place to be exposed to the gay lifestyle. I got it, though, in my early teens.

I think a lot of the feedback you are getting is not due to folks being "gay sensitive" (whatever that is) but the tone you have taken in your own posts.

I think a lot of the feedback you are getting is not due to folks being "gay sensitive" (whatever that is) but the tone you have taken in your own posts.

When I say "gay sensitive" I mean people who immediately pounce on anyone who says something with the word gay in it that they don't agree with.  The Rosie O'Donnel syndrome.

All I said in my orignal post about the toss-up question was that I would pick either character before they turned Northstar gay.  Meaning, I liked them both the same.  All of a sudden these gay sensitive people come out of the woodwork and post as though it was common knowledge to anyone reading Alpha Flight back in the 80s that Northstar was gay.  Not in a very friendly tone I might add.  Well, the fact is that it wasn't widely known that Norhstar was gay.  In fact, as OSPG says, it was a revelation. 

I am not gay sensitive, and ignorant is not an insult.  It just means you didn't know what you were talking about.  Look it up.  I think the definition fits.

Aurora gets bumped to tomorrow, so I can be more sensitive.

TODAY'S TOSS-UP (1/20):

Is Northstar a "top" or a "bottom?"

P.S. Today is my brother's wedding (for those of you who know me).

Wade Duvall wrote: Anyone reading back in the 80s who didn't have a gaydar or know JBs intentions would think that Northstar was "turned" gay in #107.

John has said, many times on this very site, that Northstar was gay.  He always intended him to be gay.  He's the creator of the character.  That you don't want to read the FAQ that points to this fact because it's too much work for you shouldn't detract from the truth of the statement that the original creator of the character always saw said character as gay no matter if it happened during his original run or 100 issues later. In the end, what "signs" should you have been aware of, Wade?  Being gay is no more different than being straight. It's just a different life choice.  I can tell you that I've been around people who, on the outside, appeared straight for many years until such a time as they came out and told me they were gay.  Why can't we accept that the same could be true of Northstar?

Wade Duvall wrote: The real problem is when some gay sensitive people such as yourself call people ignorant just because they don't remember some subtle hints of Northstars gayness from a comic they read 20 years ago.

Bullshit.  The "real problem" is someone, like yourself, speaking from a position of authority when, in reality, they can't even remember what it is they are referencing.  It has nothing to do with being "gay sensitive" and everything to do with understanding that John Byrne has said, over and over again, that Northstar, as he created him, was always gay.  That you may not have picked up on those cues, that you may not have seen anything that suggested this, in no way makes his eventual coming out of the closet "turning" the character gay.  He is as he was when he was first created.  The execution of his coming out of the closet may have been poorly handled by the creative team that was writing him at the time, but to say that this was a character that was formerly straight now turned gay for some sort of publicity stunt is absolutely and totally false.