LGBT Heritage Month Honors “Star Trek’s” George Takei

LOS ANGELES, CA – On June 1, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa commemorated the city’s second annual LGBT Heritage Month with a ceremony inside the Los Angeles City Council Chambers, held to honor actor and longtime LGBT political activist George Takei, along with other area LGBT community leaders. Takei, who played Lt. Sulu on the television sci-fi classic from 1966 to 1969, commemorated his honor by planting a kiss on Mayor Villaraigosa’s cheek.

Carrie Underwood Endorses Marriage Equality

NASHVILLE, TN – American Idol winner and country superstar Carrie Underwood told the British newspaper the Independent this week that she and husband Mike Fisher attend a gay-friendly church in Nashville, and that she supports marriage equality for LGBT persons.

“As a married person myself, I don’t know what it’s like to be told I can’t marry somebody I love, and want to marry. I can’t imagine how that must feel,” Underwood told the British publication. “I definitely think we should all have the right to love, and love publicly, the people that we want to love.”

“Above all, God wanted us to love others,” the fourth season American Idol champion and Oklahoma native added. “It’s not about setting rules, or [saying] ‘everyone has to be like me’. No. We’re all different. That’s what makes us special. We have to love each other and get on with each other.”

Last month, “out” country artist Chely Wright told “CBS This Morning” that her coming out two years ago has resulted in her experiencing a “freeze” and a “rejection of silence” from the big names in country music. “I need a country artist who is a big deal, like Jay-Z in his community—he came forward and said, ‘I believe in equality for all,’” Wright said during the May 30 segment.

DC Comics “Outs” Green Lantern

NEW YORK, NY – The publishers of “Superman,” “Batman,” “Wonder Woman,” and dozens of other popular super hero comics unveiled a new storyline last week in which the original Green Lantern—a centerpiece character of the DC Comics universe for over seven decades—was revealed to be a gay man.

The character of Alan Scott—a formerly married father of two, who first appeared in print in 1940—was rebooted last week along with other elements of the fictional comic book universe as part of publisher DC Comics’ “New 52” initiative, which the publishing giant intends to rejuvenate its popular comics series.

“He’s very much the character he was,” DC writer James Robinson told The New York Post. “He’s still the pinnacle of bravery and idealism. He’s also gay.” Readers are alerted to this last fact early in the first issue of the comic reboot, when the superhero welcomes his boyfriend home—with a kiss.

The British-born Robinson said he changed Scott from a straight man to a gay one because the story reboot called for making the character young again—and eliminating Scott’s “past history,” which included having a gay superhero son. “The only downside of his being young was we lose his son, Obsidian, who’s gay,” Robinson explained. “So I thought, ‘Why not make Alan Scott gay?’ That was the seed that started it.” In the 1990s, Robinson wrote DC’s “Starman” comic, a groundbreaking title that featured a gay central superhero character. He said the only agenda he’s pushing is reality.

Robinson described the rebooted Green Lantern as “a type-A personality who doesn’t hide in the shadows,” and added, “If there’s some kind of kid out there who’s reading the comic and who’s worried about the person he is, maybe it will give him a positive sense of who he is. Or maybe a different kid will read it and decide I don’t need to bully some kind of kid in school.”

The unveiling of a “pink” Green Lantern happened on the heels of competitor Marvel Comics’ announcement that its creation, “Northstar”—the first openly gay hero—will marry his boyfriend in the June 20 issue of “Astonishing X-Men.” The super speedster character—whose secret identity is Canadian Jean-Paul Beaubier—will wed his partner, Kyle Jinadu, in the title’s Issue 51. Northstar, a member of the X-Men team, came out in Marvel’s “Alpha Flight” title.