Benjamin Deeds aka Morph, a relatively new addition to the Uncanny X-Men series, came out as gay in a recent issue of the comic book.

Benjamin Deeds Says 'I'm Gay'

In Uncanny X-Men #14, Deeds nonchalantly mentions the fact that he’s gay when his friend tries to get him to hit on a girl. “I don’t want to ask her out. I’m gay,” says Deeds. “You’re not marrying her,” his friend replies, clearly wanting him to make the move for non-romantic reasons. “I don’t care. What does that have to do with this.” The issue was written by Brian Michael Bendis and is scheduled to be released this week.

Marvel On Gay Characters

Marvel, upon realizing the newsworthiness of Morph’s sexuality, made mention of their desire to develop their characters, and let one’s sexuality – whatever it might be – be secondary to their superpowers.

“Continuing with Marvel’s rich tradition of character development and storytelling, this shape-shifting mutant can alter his appearance to mimic anyone he is in close proximity with,” Marvel's Senior Communications Manger of Marvel Entertainment Joe Taraborrelli told The Huffington Post. ”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.”

Comic books have been known over the years to take an inclusive approach with characters – from sexuality to race. Just last year, Marvel character Northstar wedded his long-term partner Kyle. There’s a comprehensive list of LGBT characters in comics here.

– Chelsea Regan

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