Stan Lee, Spiderman Creator, To Unveil Thom Creed, First Gay Superhero

On a lighter note, Stan Lee, creator of Spiderman, has reportedly created a character called Thom Creed, a high-school basketball player who is forced to hide his sexuality as well as his superpowers. He will be the first gay superhero. Lee reportedly developed the idea of a gay character from the award-winning novel Hero by Perry Moore.

It is not known what kind of powers Creed will display. Lee, the former head of Marvel Comics - who also created the Hulk and the X-Men - will unveil Creed in an hour-long television special made in the US.

If he proves popular with audiences, and I have every reason to believe there is a good chance it will, the program will be shown in Britain. Lee recently told GQ magazine that the world needed an Economist Man and a Foreign Relations Man to help the world weather the global financial crisis. Well, there you have it, a gay superhero. The religious conservatives will have a problem with this. Remember Tinky-Winky from the Teletubbies? Pat Robertson had a problem with the "purse" the character always carried. Anyway, here's my position. The issue I have with this is why do we need to define the sexuality of our superheroes? I don't think children are wondering why we don't have a gay superhero or a Mormon superhero, for that matter. Is Warner Brothers next to unveil a gay character? Who cares if Bugs Bunny is gay because he wears dresses in some cartoons? It is sad that we have moved into an age where being politically correct means more than just letting kids be kids.