Absolutely fabulous!

In light of the past couple of posts, I felt that I needed a bit of a sedative. And some more calming and, possibly, laugh-provoking material in the news.

Thank goodness for that Advocate. Overall, the site provides a pretty good service, and they do a very good job of addressing the concerns that face the gay community. For example, they take the time to point out that the military still considers homosexuality to be a mental disorder, 30 years after mental health professionals realized that such a classification was wrong. They talk with Kevin Aviance, the man who was unfortunately horrendously beaten for the simple fact that he was a gay man who performed as a woman.

And then, every once in a while, they feel the need to lighten up. And they deliver hard-hitting stories, such as "How Gay is Superman?" Not that they're really saying that the Man of Steel is gay. More to the point, the article talks about how a lot of the things that affect gay culture definitely affect superheroes in the comicbooks. From secret identities, complete with a fear of being "outed", to overall persecution experienced by characters such as the XMen, the article points out similarities between supers and homosexuals, while also discussing why homosexuals may find themselves drawn to the comics in the first place.

But I think they missed a golden opportunity. Let's not focus on the similarities between the two cultures. Let's instead look at the possibilities of the two cultures being a lot more closely linked than previously believed. If you look merely at the costumes that the supers wear, there's already an indication that maybe, like professional wrestling, the characters are a bit more homoerotic than the majority of fans may want to believe. After all, there is a fairly unhealthy fascination with tights and spandex. It almost makes you wonder how many readers would bat eyes if Aquaman showed up in fishnet stockings (pun semi-intended), or if Thor put on lipstick before swinging his hammer. Nevermind that in many cases, most notably Batman, the most meaningful relationship that these heroes have with other people is with a sidekick, who is, generally, a younger, fitter version of themselves. And the entire concept of running around as a vigilante wearing a cape? Almost sounds like something you could see on FOX during sweeps week.

I mean, come on, Advocate. If you're going to ask how gay Superman is, at least take the steps to point out how many gay tendencies he, and, for that matter, his ilk, possess. Plain and simple, no man should ever wear that particular shade of blue, while also wearing bright red briefs.

And Supes? The boots are a little much.