Superman came out as bisexual this week. Congrats?
On Monday, the series publisher revealed the son of Lois Lane and Clark Kent, Jon, who has launched his own career as Superman, will strike up a romantic relationship with a male companion next issue in November. Rather than pair the chiseled dark-haired flying knight with a comic book version of James Bond, Jon Kent will fall in love with a pink-haired journalist named Jay Nakamura.
Superman comes out as bisexual; 'not a gimmick,' writer says https://t.co/jet8kUvsJu pic.twitter.com/e3Oje2bKae
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 12, 2021
While the fictional hero’s novel sexuality grabbed headlines, his transformation from a patriotic paladin draped in the red, white, and blue into a champion for left-wing causes is far more noteworthy. Below is how The New York Times introduced America to the new version of its comic book icon:
That same-sex relationship is just one of the ways that Jonathan Kent, who goes by Jon, is proving to be a different Superman than his famous father. Since his new series, Superman: Son of Kal-El, began in July, Jon has combated wildfires caused by climate change, thwarted a high school shooting and protested the deportation of refugees in Metropolis.
‘The idea of replacing Clark Kent with another straight white savior felt like a missed opportunity,’ Tom Taylor, who writes the series, said in an interview. He said that a ‘new Superman had to leave new fights — real world problems — that he could stand up to as one of the most powerful people in the world.’
The coming out of Superman, perhaps the most archetypal American superhero, is a notable moment even in an age when many comics have embraced diversity and are exploring pressing social issues.
Because in a world where leftist ideology has infected seemingly every institution, even our superheroes are compelled to tackle “pressing social issues.” If Superman is going to adopt a new means of fighting for “truth, justice and the American way,” however, below are some more pressing social issues than scaring the heck out of children over climate change.
1. Gay Rights In The Middle East
In May, 20-year-old Alireza Fazeli Monfared was beheaded by his family in an apparent “honor killing” for being gay. The social media influencer was just days away from escaping Iran, where homosexuality is punishable by execution, when his dream was crushed by Iranian homophobia.
Monfared’s tragedy is by no means unique for homosexuals across the Middle East, much of southeast Asia, and across the African continent. According to Human Dignity Trust, a U.K.-based global nonprofit dedicated to LGBT rights, homosexuality remains a crime in 70 countries worldwide plus Palestine. At least 11 jurisdictions consider homosexuality worthy of the death penalty.
Meanwhile, gays under Taliban rule in Afghanistan are left fearing for their lives.
Superman’s activism abroad could be far more effective than at home, where coming out as queer is far more a lucrative business opportunity than a courageous act of societal defiance.
2. Childhood Obesity
A new study out in late August found nearly half of the nation’s children aged 5 through 11 now qualify as either overweight or obese. Researchers from the University of Southern California and the University of Michigan who analyzed childrens’ body mass index (BMI) discovered those who were considered overweight or obese soared from 36 percent pre-pandemic to nearly 46 percent after months of classroom closures accelerating an already alarming trend in childhood obesity.
In December 2019, an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine projected nearly 60 percent of those aged between 2 and 19 in 2016 will be obese by the time they’re 35. That was written months before lockdowns, which have likely accelerated the authors’ prophecy.
Children who develop obesity are vulnerable in adulthood to serious chronic health problems, from anxiety and depression to heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer. As a role model to children, Superman ought to partner with former First Lady Michelle Obama to combat the normalization of obesity infecting the next generation.
3. Uyghur Genocide
As of this writing, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is still executing a 21st-century genocide against minority Uyghur Muslims in China’s northwestern Xinjiang province.
A U.N. human-rights panel estimated in 2018 that upwards of 1 million Uyghurs have been detained in Chinese concentration camps, with reports of prisoners forced to renounce their religion while facing indefinite internment subject to torture and sexual abuse. According to the BBC, “women have spoken of mass rape.”
The Uyghurs need a superhero, because LeBron James and John Cena are hiding.
4. Election Integrity
Honest, free, and fair elections are a primary pillar of American democracy. As outlined by Federalist Senior Editor Mollie Hemingway’s brand new book, “Rigged: How the Media, Big Tech, and the Democrats Seized Our Elections” out Tuesday however, last fall’s contest was anything but fair.
Democrat legislatures exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to rig election rules while Silicon Valley manipulated the digital public square to protect their preferred presidential candidate. Given Superman’s declared dedicated causes, it’s likely he shares political sympathies with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, who spent millions to privatize U.S. voting. In the DC Comics universe, that might be the “American way.”
5. Medical Freedom
Last month, 27-year-old former nursing student Caroline Pinto was kicked out of the University of Colorado’s medical program after the school reneged on its offer to secure a religious exemption over the institution’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Pinto is by no means alone, as millions of Americans face the decision to comply with vaccine mandates or face termination at work or de-enrollment at school. In June, more than 150 employees at a Houston-based health care system were fired or resigned over their refusal to take the coronavirus treatments. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order Monday banning vaccine mandates in the Lone Star state after the governor banned government-sponsored mandates in May.
Operations at Southwest Airlines have been thrown into turmoil over employees’ objections to the company’s policies surrounding its medical coercion.
Superman can fly. Maybe he could also help thousands of stranded travelers fly too by getting Southwest pilots back to work free to make medical decisions at their own discretion.
