Comic Con, the annual convention in San Diego dedicated to a rapidly-expanding list of all things comics, science fiction, superheroes, supernatural, and every other element of pop culture that a gay geek could want, was held this weekend. And once again, the event was a fanboy's dream. Tons of news about gay, lesbian, and bisexual-related pop culture updates came out of the convention.
Maybe the most interesting LGBT-related development wasn't even tied to pop culture at all. The Westboro Baptist Church took to the streets on Friday to protest Comic Con - and Comic Con attendees protested back. Dressed in costumes of their favorite superheroes or pop culture figure, a crowd of LGBT rights supporters staged a gathering that echoed last October's Rally to Restore Fear And/Or Sanity, with ridiculous signs ("God Loves Gay Robin," "Have You Seen My Keys?") and fun-loving chants about gay sex. Photos are available here.
Inside the walls of the San Diego Convention Center, panels kept it pretty queer, too. Here's a breakdown (after the jump):
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Hey Zoe - since none of the news pieces were specifically trans-related, I made sure to only denote the news as gay, lesbian, and bisexual. If I had included "trans" in that sentence, it'd be inaccurate because the updates after the jump were not trans-related.
Ignore it. It's just trolling behavior.
On the SyFy show Warehouse 13, they added a new character and in the second show of the season, he admitted he was gay to Claudia. SyFy is pretty good at introducing LG characters (and a bisexual in Caprica) but they have yet to venture into the wonderful world of trans. Seems that Comic Con is also due for some education as well.
I can definitely see a space for trans characters in SyFy's contemporary (or retro) shows, but I wonder how trans issue would be dealt with in futuristic shows? Assuming they have advanced technology, would transitioning for trans characters who wish to do so be handled as a "step into the booth, step out of the booth, and you're done" issue?
But as for mainstream comics, I agree. There isn't much out there that I can identify except for characters who have appeared in the past. Even Xavin, of The Runaways, is more gender fluid than actually trans, and is probably the most high-profile of gender fluid characters (maybe except Loki).
There are a lot of talented people in the trans community who can work together to put out a trans-related comic book. Hell, I can write the dialogue and proses. It would be fun.
:)