Marvel Comics added another member to its growing cast of LGBT characters this week in the pages of Uncanny X-Men, reports The Huffington Post.
Benjamin Deeds is the latest of Marvel's merry mutants to kick down the closet door and further the representation of LGBT people in comics. The character, who is a recent addition to the X-team, made his reveal in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #14, released today.
Joe Taraborrelli, Sr. Communications Manager of Marvel Entertainment, told HuffPo the introduction of Deeds as a gay character is all a part of "Marvel's rich tradition of character development and storytelling and "the fact that Ben has come out as homosexual is just a small facet of who he is and what he is going to bring to Cyclops' select team of X-Men."
LGBT characters in comics have become more visible in recent years as the industry pushes to become more diverse, and storylines featuring same-sex romance have often been included in the pages of various X-Men titles. In February, bisexual demigod Hercules and the Wolverine from a parallel dimension were revealed to be lovers (depicting the two men kissing in a passionate embrace) in X-Treme X-Men #10, and in 2012, Marvel made history with the first same-sex wedding in the comic book publisher's fictional universe when out superhero Northstar married his boyfriend, Kyle, in Astonishing X-Men #51.
