KIDS! IT IS OKAY TO BE GAY

KIDS! IT IS OKAY TO BE GAY By  Precious Haruna Ikilama

Photo Credit: glute.com

So, I have been stalling for time in writing this piece and honest to God, I can’t think of a good enough reason why I was so laid back on penning my thoughts. Now, I’d love to blame it on the nature of this story and the controversy it is bound to generate but I’ll take a pass.

The truth is, there is no perfect way to pen a delicate topic as this, so, I have decided to write irrespective of my misgivings.

As humans, we learn better from what we hear and see thus, photographs, films and audios have a way of manipulating our psyche and imprinting themselves in our mind. Findings from studies carried out by scholars from different walks of life reveal that people or humans in general tend to attach more importance to stories with photographs or any audio/visual content. They find such materials interesting and easy to comprehend. More so, photographs can go a long way in portraying a story in a particular light.

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Correspondingly, children in their formative years learn consciously by imitating what they are exposed to in their environment and unconsciously from they hear and see, that is, through audio/visual contents. While it is no news that a lot of children, tweens and some young adults read a lot of comic books, it will interest you to know that the content of comics can mold their perspectives as well as their stance on key life issues. For example, growing up, I remember watching my little cousins tie wrappers round their necks as faux capes and chanting all sorts of superhero signature lines and/or slogans. To them nothing else mattered and they were indestructible. This was their perception of the world, they thought of themselves as all-powerful, strong and wreck-less simply because their role models from the comic book(s) they read possessed the aforementioned qualities.

Also, most comic books carry moral lessons such as “good will always prevail over evil,” “you can be whatever you choose to be” and the characters often signify hope, justice, compassion and goodwill for humanity.

Bearing in mind the power comics have on their audience, it will be relatively easy for publishers to subtly set a particular agenda and/or narrative for their audience to follow. In the spirit of setting agendas, the LGBTQ community under the guise of “inclusiveness” seem to be subtly suggesting that it is okay for kids to be Gay, Bisexual or even Queer.

 

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On October 11, 2021, an American comic book publisher, DC Comics, announced that its new 17-year old superman character, Jonathan Kent in the newly released comic issue- Superman: Son of Kal-El No. 5, is bisexual. In a statement which read in parts, Tom Taylor, a world renown comic writer and DC’s creative officer and publisher, Jim Lee, said:

“I knew replacing Clark with another straight white saviour could be a real opportunity missed.

I’ve always said everyone needs heroes and everyone deserves to see themselves in their heroes and I am very grateful DC and Warner Bros. share this idea.” Taylor said.

 

“We couldn’t be prouder to tell this important story from Tom Taylor and John Timms,” said Jim Lee, DC’s creative officer and publisher.

 

“We talk a lot about the power of the DC multiverse in our story telling and this is another incredible example. We can have Jon Kent exploring his identity in the comics as well as Jon Kent learning the secrets of his family on TV on Superman and Lois.

They coexist in their own world and times and our fans get to enjoy both simultaneously.” He concluded.

This announcement was made on October 11, 2021, which also doubled as the National Coming Out Day. The decision to have the superhero ‘come out’ is a high-profile example of comic book publishers giving credence to the LGBTQ movement. LGBTQ according to Wikipedia is an acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer or Questioning. It describes a person’s sexual orientation or gender.

In the same vein, National Coming Out Day is an annual LGBTQ awareness day observed on October 11, to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in “coming out of the closet.”

A lot of comic books have embraced this new narrative and are tilting towards expanding the scope of LGBTQ representation in their stories. Notably, Anime and Manga comics have normalized using LGBTQ identities for their comic characters. These stories are seen brazenly exploring LGBTQ themes.

Similarly, Loki in Loki on June 10, 2021, officially became the first Queer superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first six episodes of Loki which was aired on Disney Plus, a flagship unit of Disney Channel showed Loki as gender-fluid; meaning that he doesn’t identify all the time as exclusively male or female. All these are pointers to the fact that the LGBTQ community has come all out to promote their ideology.

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Now, personally I don’t succumb to the whole LGBTQ ideology. I do not support the same sex desire or relationship, of all things, I regard homosexuality with aversion but I am also mindful of safe spaces and people’s right to freedom of expression as enshrined in some if not all constitutions of the world.

Frankly, the problem lies in the fact that these people seem to be trying to shove their opinions down our throats under the guise of “inclusiveness.” Homosexuality like other things is gaining ground in Nigeria, this is largely due to our long history of adopting different shades of Western culture and standards because we find them cool and in vogue and this in itself is quite worrisome. This subtle yet brazen ideological penetration is and should be a major cause of concern to every right thinking member of the society. 

In my one opinion, comic books, especially children comic books shouldn’t be sexually charged to begin with. Secondly, inasmuch as the LGBTQ community is pushing for “inclusiveness” I don’t see the need to flood comic books with queer characters. The reason is simple, a kid who originally would have paid no mind to these things will be torn between accepting his role models as queer and what he has always considered as normal. If such a kid doesn’t buy the whole LGBT ideology, there is bound to be some conflict of interest.

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This move by the LGBTQ community is the highest and purest form of reverse psychology and as such, I feel the need to tell you this. It is not okay to be gay if the ideology is ram down your throat. 

It is not okay to be gay if your superhero character leaves you questioning the sanctity of being straight. 

Kids! It is not okay to be gay if you are not allowed to choose for yourself the type of sexual orientation and path you want to follow.

Precious Haruna Ikilama is a 400 level student of the department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka