Through Subtext and Metaphors: What Northstar Taught Me About Being Queer

In celebration of Pride Month and tomorrow's launch of MARVEL'S VOICES: PRIDE, we reached out to Northstar fan Mac, @transnorthstar on twitter, for his thoughts on what Jean-Paul means to him:


There are forty-four characters on the frame variant of MARVEL'S VOICES: PRIDE Edition, out June 23rd. Forty-five if you count the debuting character Somnus, but forty-four characters all with different powers, LGBTQ+ identities, and countless stories told. In many ways the only thing more amazing than the power they have on panel is the power they carry off panel. Every character on that cover is a part of someone’s journey towards self acceptance. Whether it be the first time they hear the word gay, the first time they realized they could be a hero, or some other impact made through the page, each has something that makes them special. There are several characters on the Pride cover who have taught me something different about being LGBTQ+, but none so more than the man in black and white in the top left corner, and the one it all started with, Northstar.

I picked up ALPHA FLIGHT while searching through the dollar bins at a local comic shop. I was twelve and had recently fallen in love with comics, as well as recently begun to realize I was different from my peers. One of my first comics had been AVENGERS: CHILDREN'S CRUSADE and it had me back for more comics. I wasn’t quite certain but something about Billy and Teddy had felt familiar, I couldn’t put my finger on it. At that point I had never heard the word “gay” or was able to name a gay person before them, much less known why I wanted to look like Billy so bad, or was jealous of Teddy’s shapeshifting.

Ironically, I didn’t know about Northstar at all when I picked up ALPHA FLIGHT and asked the man behind the counter what it was about. He was the same cashier who’d sold me Children’s Crusade so he made sure to mention the first gay comic book hero, but truthfully, he had me sold when he called them the “Canadian Avengers.”


My hometown is small and sits on the US-Canadian border; it even makes a brief appearance in the pages of Alpha Flight. It’s the kind of town where everyone knows everyone. The kind of town where queerness is kept to the friends who only visit for the holidays, and hushed whispers; it wasn’t the subject of “polite” conversation. The message overwhelming clear: If you blurred the gender lines, if you were queer in anyway, you were making a scene. Defiance was unacceptable and wrong.

But in the pages of ALPHA FLIGHT, it’s exactly what I learned. While Northstar’s barely concealed queercoding rattled the closet doors, his defiance is what flung them open for me. Where most characters and other fans saw an arrogant, callous snob, I saw someone who wasn’t afraid to demand that he be called by the correct name. Who knew his rights and exercised them, affability be damned.


Even more so than Billy and Teddy, Northstar unearthed something familiar. Just as he says upon meeting Aurora, it felt like looking in a distorted mirror. Looking back now I can see exactly what I found so appealing about Northstar as a young and closeted gay, trans man. Beyond just the opaque references to his sexuality, was the story of a mutant. One who was fiercely proud of being a mutant. To him, his mutation was a gift, despite how it positioned him as a freak in the world, despite how it cost him his skiing career. It never once mattered to him if someone didn’t accept him. Whether it was because he was a mutant or gay, or because of both, he was never once ashamed of either.


Being trans has its costs of course. It has cost me relationships with family and friends, job opportunities, and sometimes even cost me basic respect, even sometimes from other queer people. But despite this being trans has also been the greatest gift. It has brought me closer to the family that truly mattered and friends who truly care. It has given me the opportunity to some of the most important people in my life, as well as given me the opportunity to be a part of others journeys of self-acceptance.


Being able to be part of moments as simple as meeting another trans person for the first time, to helping another trans person embrace themselves. Sometimes it does boggle my mind to think at what a huge role a comic book about a group of Canadians has in who I am today. I'm sure even if I hadn’t picked up ALPHA FLIGHT twelve years ago, I would have eventually realized I was a gay trans man, but I'm sure I would not be the person I am today.


Northstar is nobody’s favorite. Even among most queer fans who can admire him as the first LGBTQ+ hero, out of the forty-four characters on the cover, Northstar would probably rank closer to last than first in most people’s line-ups.

He is angry, callous, and, let’s not forget, a former terrorist. His role on Alpha Flight can be summed up to snide remarks and preaching at his teammates, and who would want to look up to that guy? But in many ways, that is why he is one of the heroes I admire most. Northstar taught me more than any other queer character: Nobody really has to like or accept me, so long as I accepted myself, affability be damned.