Aqualad has been a prominent gay character in comics for some time, but it wasn’t until the end of the most recent episode of Young Justice: Outsiders, titled “Quiet Conversations,” where it was confirmed Kaldur is also queer in the show.
**Spoilers for Young Justice: Outsiders.**
During the episode, there was a montage of various characters reuniting with their loved ones. Among those was a scene of Kaldur and Wyynde, an Atlantean who works with King Orin, approaching Kaldur and holding hands before exchanging a kiss, revealing their relationship for the first time. The two characters used to be enemies back during the Purist Crisis; it seems as though they’ve developed a romantic relationship in the years since. I’m sure the fanfiction will fill in those gaps.
Welcome Aqualad / Aquaman! pic.twitter.com/sly9lNoPYs
— 🌈 Queerly Nerd 🌈 (@QueerlyNerd) July 30, 2019
Cmon #Aqualad! Cmon #Aquaman!! A #Queer Man!!! Lol werk 🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/WvbmlAjAtf
— daddys little daddy (@bussy4bara) July 30, 2019
* jackson hyde ( kaldur’ahm )
— black
— gay
— debuted w/ the n52
— aqualad , you already kno
— baby pic.twitter.com/2qyAiG0cGx— donna troy is asian (@SPIDERWOMNS) July 24, 2019
Holy carp! Just watched the latest #YoungJusticeOutsiders and the aqua man is gay? A bi racial gay super hero? I LOVE THIS! I’m inspired! Thank you @TheDCUniverse for this moment! I already thought aqualad was awesome but he’s now my favourite! pic.twitter.com/tsIiaASxMa
— Geoff Leonard🏳️🌈🇨🇦 (@Geoff_Leo) July 31, 2019
In DC Comics, it was shared, after the character’s 2010 debut, that he was gay, but we lost the character in the launch of New 52 in 2011. However, he returned in 2016’s Teen Titans, and it was confirmed that the new iteration of the character was gay, as well. We’ve seen Kaldur in love with women in the show, but since he is clearly in a relationship with a man, we see that Kaldur is somewhere in the queer/bi/pan spectrum. Either way, it’s great to see that this aspect of his character hasn’t been completely removed from the show, as people had once feared.
On Twitter, there were those who were celebrating, and some trolling homophobic comments were to be expected, but there was also a user who shared this really great moment, from the comics, of Kaldur telling his father, Black Manta, that he was gay. Manta’s expression was pretty excellent: “You say that as though you’re asking me a question. You think I care? We’re all just meat.”
When you’re a sociopathic villain, but still not homophobic.
Oh my god this aged well pic.twitter.com/YbRXpLYtkZ
— Max Winston and 234 others fallows you (@MaxWinston44) July 30, 2019
It’s also great to see more queer men of color in animation. Kaldur has always been my favorite in the Young Justice animated series, so … an opportunity to see more of him, especially if he gets to be happy and in love? I’m game.
Are you guys excited about Young Justice: Outsiders? I’ve been enjoying it a lot, and I’m so glad this series has been continuing with so much success and love from fandom. New episodes of Young Justice: Outsiders are released on DC Universe each week.
(via ComicBook.com, image: DC Universe)
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