To be honest, the numbers are probably higher. I'd say 6-10% covers those who are "out". No matter what the true percentage is, gay people are a part of life. We exist. We are part of the world's population, and deserve representation, even in comics. And, homosexuality occurs in the animal kingdom, where for most species, is driven by instinct.

I do hope that everyone realizes that stories can be told about homosexuals that have nothing to do with the character's sex life. Acknowledgement of a character's sexuality is not the same thing as sex. Showing Batman on a date with a woman, or kissing Catwoman, acknowledge's his sexuality without being about sex. Showing Batwoman on a date with a man, or kissing Renee M., acknowledges her sexuality without being about sex. Showing Nightwing in bed with Starfire was about sex. Since the latter was handled well, I had no problem with it.

Ultimately, this seems like a non-issue. If a writer chooses to have a gay character, main or supporting, hero or villain, should be able to do so. If a writer chooses not to have such a character, that's fine too.

I think a problem some people have with homosexuality in comics is that for the most part that element has nothing to do with the genre.  Comics are not meant to be some sort of "world book" that describes the entire setting and thus needs to account for everything including gays, the M3 money supply, Viennese cafe society in the 1800s, and sports statistics.  The superhero genre is its own thing.  That does not mean that homosexuality is inherently not something to be included.  As JB and others have mentioned, it's part of the world.  There are certainly many ways it can be present in a superhero story, but it is also true that it can stick out like a sore thumb when done for solely polemic reasons or just to be obtrusive.

As for Shooter's rules in the 1980s, I think it is very dangerous to determine someone's motivation for an action.  It is also dangerous to judge people now on decisions taken 20 years ago.  Comics then were still a mass market media targetted mainly to kids.  Controversial topics could hurt sales, especially in certain parts of the country.  Shooter could have simply been protecting the company.  Entertainment companies have no duty to be activists on behalf of any cause you believe in.

One thing about Northstar's depiction is that it is very apparent that Northstar is gay - at least in a couple of scenes that would show up from time to time - based on either someone making an observation, someone telling a joke at Northstar's expense, or depicting who is at his place during a pool party.  But it's something that would go over kids' heads and provides plausible deniability if anyone complained while still allowing the grown ups to know Northstar's character.

Paul Greer - "I've never taken a poll on the folks I know or interact with, but 6-10% seems about right. I wouldn't be surprised if it were a little higher."

 
Nah.  10% is way too high.  Before the recent influx of Latinos, that would have made gay folks the largest minority in America.  In a small town of 1,000, that's 100 gay people.  In a big city of 10 million, that's 1 million gay people.  Considering the likelyhood of gay people moving from less-gay friendly rural areas to more accepting urban areas, many big cities would end up 20 to 30% gay or more, making them almost the biggest plurality of the voting public.  At 10% I just can't see how homosexuality could ever be as hidden a thing as it has been in America and in other cultures and times.  Of course, 1% is also ridiculously low.

What's got to make it hard to figure a number like this out is...

A.  People still in the closet, and

B.  people who want the number to be lower or higher because that makes it easier to define homsexuality as "normal" or "deviant".

Mike

JB: You're a snowback.

Coming from you ... that's a compliment;)

Sadly, it's also a fact of life in Montreal.

It just occurred to me that the man attempting to rape Bruce Banner is perceived as gay. What if he wasn't? What if a man raping a man -- in this case -- was a case of male-over-male dominance and not an act of sexual gratification?

From what I've read, guys get raped in jail by men that are often NOT gay but who are simply trying to establish a pecking order. There is a very strong component of violence and dominance imbedded in human sexual behavior which doesn't necessarily point to a preferred orientation.