Dermie
05-17-2007, 06:23 PM
Gyrich referring to the Initiative as the "superhuman armed forces" got me thinking. The regular American armed forces have the "don't ask, don't tell" rule applying to gay troops. So that made me wonder about the status of gay superheroes in the Initiative.
The SHRA applies to anyone in the U.S. with superhuman powers, so obviously sexual orientation wouldn't have any impact on registration. But what about the heroes serving in the Initiative? They seem to be basing themselves on an Avengers template, and the Avengers have never discriminated based on sexual identity (at least in theory...although to date there has never been an openly gay Avenger serving on the active roster; both of the currently known gay Avengers came out of the closet years after leaving active duty). But Camp Hammond tends to be run more like a military base than an Avengers team. I can't imagine the government would bar openly gay superheroes from serving in the Initiative...but just like the recruits are not allowed to reveal their secret ids, might they not be allowed to discuss their sexuality?
We've already seen the recruits in group showers, etc. I would like to think that adults who are mature enough to take on the responsibility of becoming superheroes would be mature enough to handle group showers....but I could easily see someone like USAgent getting uncomfortable about showering with Living Lightning or Northstar.
We've already seen a few gay heroes in the Initiative--Wiccan and Hulkling have been seen at Camp Hammond, and Living Lightning is on one of the 50 States teams. And the sexualities of Gauntlet, Trauma and Komodo have not yet been revealed (I'm assuming Hardball is straight, given his flirting with Thor Girl, and Cloud 9 looked like she might have had a bit of a crush on MVP). Just given the military feel of the Initiative, and the volatile mix of personalities and backgrounds with all those different heroes (and a few villains too), I wonder if this could be an issue?
The SHRA applies to anyone in the U.S. with superhuman powers, so obviously sexual orientation wouldn't have any impact on registration. But what about the heroes serving in the Initiative? They seem to be basing themselves on an Avengers template, and the Avengers have never discriminated based on sexual identity (at least in theory...although to date there has never been an openly gay Avenger serving on the active roster; both of the currently known gay Avengers came out of the closet years after leaving active duty). But Camp Hammond tends to be run more like a military base than an Avengers team. I can't imagine the government would bar openly gay superheroes from serving in the Initiative...but just like the recruits are not allowed to reveal their secret ids, might they not be allowed to discuss their sexuality?
We've already seen the recruits in group showers, etc. I would like to think that adults who are mature enough to take on the responsibility of becoming superheroes would be mature enough to handle group showers....but I could easily see someone like USAgent getting uncomfortable about showering with Living Lightning or Northstar.
We've already seen a few gay heroes in the Initiative--Wiccan and Hulkling have been seen at Camp Hammond, and Living Lightning is on one of the 50 States teams. And the sexualities of Gauntlet, Trauma and Komodo have not yet been revealed (I'm assuming Hardball is straight, given his flirting with Thor Girl, and Cloud 9 looked like she might have had a bit of a crush on MVP). Just given the military feel of the Initiative, and the volatile mix of personalities and backgrounds with all those different heroes (and a few villains too), I wonder if this could be an issue?