New Brevoort Formspring

Being a mutant is a metaphor for being gay, certainly. However, it’s also a metaphor for being Black, or for being Jewish, or for being anything that makes somebody feel apart from the mainstream, persecuted and hated for what they are. As such, while I understand why you have such a strong reaction to that scene–and even welcome it, since the point of stories is at least partially to engender an emotional response–I have to say that I think that you’re taking too much personal ownership of that scene and making it about something way beyond what is actually on the page.

You should absolutely be proud of being gay, of being who you are. That said–and I don’t know you, but I make this assumption–that is not the only thing that defines you. From what you say here, you’re clearly a man, you’ve clearly got a skin color, you’ve got a heritage and you’ve got a job. Defining you solely by any one of those traits would be equally wrong, especially when that defining is done by people other than yourself–that is the point of what Havok is getting at in that scene. You are not your gender, you are not your skin color, you are not your heritage, you are not your job and you are not your sexual orientation solely–you are an individual human being that encompasses all of those attributes.

Or, to give another example, people have pointed me towards this clip of Morgan Freeman talking about Black History Month on 60 Minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh8mUia75k8

This is what Havok is talking about.

Rick’s response is Rick’s response, I don’t endorse or agree with it necessarily. But like everybody, he’s got the right to say stupid things on the Internet. And you’ve got every right to take offense at it, and to not support his work as a consequence.