Recently, it’s been announced that Teen Titans, as part of its New 52 reboot/relaunch, will be seeing a new gay member, in the form of the awkwardly named Bunker:

Bunker, real name Miguel Jose Barragan, is also Mexican, Catholic and camper than a row of tents (at least visually, as we have yet to see him in the pages on the comic actually speaking). He creates some kind of weird purple energy/telekinetic barriers, and his homosexuality is apparently a fundamental part of his character, so it will be focused on and dealt with, whilst still showing that he is heroic and a badass new member to the team.

But wait, what was that one word I used to describe him?

Camp, flamboyant, a flamer, queeny, gayer than the day is long, out and proud and throwing his hands around in such a fashion that there’s a genuine danger they could fling off him and cause a major traffic accident.

Hell, we can see it in one of the first images shared by artist Brett Booth, where Miguel appears to dress when out of his costume in a style of fashion not a million miles away from current famous gay teen, Kurt Hummel of Glee.

Bright, colourful, and a definite statement, it’s still an improvement on his rather garish superhero costume.

Follow up:

Now, amazingly, despite all the other interesting things creators Scott Lobdell and Booth have said about the character; i.e. he’s gay and out in Mexico, and yet he was accepted by his family and neighbours, fairly uncommon in most places let alone small, rural areas like the place he’s apparently from, or the fact that he’s Catholic and gay which could lead to some wonderful, complex storylines. No, fanboys of the internet have focused instead on one word: flamboyant.

And so a deluge of comments filled the boards online: all along the lines ‘why on earth do they have to make him flamboyant?’ (which came from straight and gay fans alike); or one I read even going so far as to insist, in capitols, that the reason gay characters in comics aren’t flamboyant gay guys is because FANBOYS DON’T WANT TO READ ABOUT FLAMBOYANT GAY MEN.

Well, I’m sorry, but why? Does someone so unashamed and unabashed by who they are and how they live shame you? And you gay guys railing against the presentation of a flaming new poof on the team, why the hate, yo? [ED- Joe, finally you have become a true Sidekick yo] Is representation and diversity only important to you if it only shows a certain kind of gay man?

The fact of the matter is, some gay men ARE camp. That’s why we have the word camp; it’s a thing. For those of you arguing that ‘Yeah, but every time you see a gay man in media they’re really bloody camp, and not all gay men are’ well, I’m sorry, you’re just wrong.

As Brett Booth pointed out on his blog:

“Why the more flamboyant look? Well it's complicated. I've seen all the other gay superheroes out there, Ok maybe not all. They look just like regular heterosexuals, they act like regular heterosexuals, they just happen to have sex with people of their own gender, under the covers and in the dark. Sure you might get a kiss on a page, but that's all.”

Hulkling isn’t camp. Nor is Wiccan, except for some occasional moments that can either be taken as camp or fanboyishness. Apollo and Midnighter certainly aren’t camp. Northstar is a bitch, but is rarely portrayed as camp. Shatterstar, Rictor, Hector, Brain, Monsieur Mallah, Tasmanian Devil, Starman...none of these characters are camp.

In fact, if their sexuality was left unrevealed, they would easily pass, or even be assumed to be straight. And that’s fine. A lot of gay men out there are very masculine and don’t trot around as if in high heels, with an arm perpetually flapping a wrist about like it’s going out of style and screaming every syllable that comes out of their mouths. But then, some men do (and not just gay men, some of the campest men I’ve met are entirely heterosexual).

If we are honest in our claims for wanting a diverse range of characters in our media, that means we have to show every type of person, including the ones who are more stereotypical. Stereotypes only exist because they’re modelled on something that’s real.

My great sadness about the introduction of this character didn’t come from the fact he was flamboyant; rather, I was a little sad that apparently everyone has accepted Miguel at every stage of his life, as Booth pointed out to me that no one of the Teen Titans is likely to give him a hard time (I think they are both missing an incredibly strong storyline there and an important message to make). The flamboyancy had me smiling. Not because I’m flamboyant (I can be, but I actually get a lot of people thinking I’m straight most of the time...get a few beers/caffeine/sugar in me and that all goes out the window though), but rather because it’s important to show and help people accept that camp men have just an important role in society and voice as anyone else, and deserve equal respect.

Conversely, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having very heterosexual-acting gay men in comics, for pretty much the same reasons. And I think it was important we focused on that type first, to challenge people’s misconceptions of gay men.

One of DC’s first attempts at gay characters was a man in the comic New Guardians called Extraño (which literally translates as Strange One). Extraño was another flamboyantly gay character, with a garish flowing costume, and had a lively jovial attitude.

He even contracted HIV, never clearly if this was before or after an encounter with the villain Hemo-Goblin (I know, seriously), and he often served the role of comic relief in the book.

What the problem here was that he was one of comics’ earliest gay characters, at a time when all gay men in the media were presented as effeminate, flamboyant queens, nearly always comic relief or a punchline or a supporting character and who nearly always either had AIDS or HIV, or were plagued by the constant shadow of it in their lives. The outcry to this representation was such that he was eventually given a more masculine and traditional superhero costume and his personality was toned down some.

That was sad, in a way, as no one in life should be asked to change their personality to suit others if they're not harming anyone (and anyone who comments that campness is irritating so it is harming them needs to take a serious long, hard look at themselves); but perhaps necessary as that wasn’t a great message for the company’s first foray in representing that culture.

They’ve handled gay men and HIV better since, with a heterosexual teen contracting the latter and handling it maturely and well, and by challenging readers opinions on the gay community by presenting ‘normal’ heroes who just so happen to be queer.

I think what the challenge needs to be now is challenging readers to accept gay characters who are more flamboyant and may be more of a challenge on their sensibilities, and hopefully learn to love and enjoy them despite their loud personality; maybe even love them for it, as TV audiences have done with Kurt in Glee. I personally have high hopes for Bunker, and I look forward to reading his adventures in the comics.

I just hope DC never tells him to leave his personality in the closet...and that he maybe looks at himself in a mirror in costume and realises girlfriend needs to change his style, ‘cause that shit ain’t fierce *snap snap*