Homosexuality in "Watchmen"

[Relish in Chaos]

So, yeah, another Watchmen topic. I've just been really into it as of late, thinking about all the psychological issues it brings up and the complexity of its narrative and, forgive my unbridled enthusiasm (especially as an over-thinking A-Level English student), but it's just my FAVOURITE BOOK EVERRRRRRRRRR!

Ah-hem.

But anyway, what I want to talk about is...well, I wouldn't call it a "theme", but it's something that seems to pop up every now and then in Watchmen. Homosexuality. Out of the eight Minutemen, there were three gay masked adventurers. I just find that surprising, considering the percentage of gay people outside of them in the real world being, what, 2%? Maybe Sally Jupiter or whoever it was were right when they said being a costumed crime-fighter attracts a certain type. And I don't mean in a sexually sadistic way, like Hooded Justice. I mean, something like, it's a way of expressing themselves in ways they cannot in their ordinary lives; understand, this was in the 30s and 40s, when homosexuality was still largely condemned or even illegal.

Fast-forward to the late 70s and 80s, "gay woman" has apparently replaced "lesbian" as the "PC" term for homosexual females in America, judging by Sally Jupiter's interview in 1976 (where, when describing the reasoning for the Silhouette's expulsion from the Minutemen after it was revealed she was dating another woman, she says something like that, "when the papers got a hold of her being--a gay woman they say nowadays".

Why this stark social change? Even early in the first volume, when Dan and Laurie are in Rafael's cafe talking over the latter's relationship with Jon, we see two old men (who are, according to one popular fan theory, Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis, the two gay male superheroes who'd apparently faked their deaths - don't ask me how, that "occulted essay" never explained it - and are now celebrating the anniversary of HJ's public debut) openly showing affection for one another. As we know from Alan Moore's meticulous attention to detail and how it would've affected Dave Gibbons' art, this panel can't have been thrown in there for nothing, for not making some kind of social commentary on the vastly different world in 1985 (Moore/Gibbons even labours to point out that Heinz baked beans now has 58 varieties, instead of 57, possibly Dr. Manhattan's influence on the world and the food industry, as we also later see a four-legged turkey or whatever in Rafael's cafe).

So, unless this is simply an upper-class restaurant that's friendly to LGBT people, it seems social attitudes towards gay people has changed, and that they are more accepted by 1985.

Well, since most of the major events in history were apparently affected by superheroes in this reality, my theory, which has never been contradicted (as far as I'm aware), has always been that it was Veidt's marketing of more social minority tolerance towards the population of America that has affected this. No, this isn't some kind of "gay agenda" bullshit I'm pushing; one of my fanon theories is that, judging by the purple triangles dotted around on Veidt Enterprises' products and just how much his business has infiltrated practically every facet of New York people's lives (e.g. the "Utopia" cinema subconsciously preparing people for an "alien invasion", by consistently airing sci-fi invasion films like The Day the Earth Stood Still[/i), Veidt was bisexual and, as part of his fledgling utopia, attempting to make people more tolerant and accepting of LGBT people. It's even said that Nostalgia was partially marketed towards gay people, by choosing somewhat androgynous female models (yeah, that sounds stupid, but still).

So, what are your thoughts?

 

[Anachronism]

I completely agree that the two old guys in the restaurant must be there for a reason; they completely dominate the panel in question, the panel wouldn't have been written and drawn that way if there weren't some point to be made. Personally, I like to think they are Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis, and there's definitely circumstantial evidence in the text bits at the ends of chapters to back it up. Still, there's nothing concrete, and neither Moore nor Gibbons are going to confirm or deny it any time soon. As I recall, Gibbons claimed ignorance of the theory, anyway.

As for your theory about Veidt and increased acceptance of homosexuality in the fictional world, it's an interesting one. To be perfectly honest, I'd never really given it much thought. I have to say though, I'm not sure I buy it. I mean, let's not forget that Silhouette was murdered for being gay, even if that was a while before the main plot. Maybe that restaurant was more progressive, or maybe the old guys were being discreet; it never really occurred to me that this was a world that was necessarily more accepting of gay people than ours.

Hell, in Moore's other work, and a lot of the British Invasion comics of the late '80s, one of the big criticisms of society is the attitude towards gay people. In V For Vendetta the government persecutes them, and in the early issues of Hellblazer a gay friend of John's gets bricks thrown through his window. So going by the lack of direct evidence in the comic and the general attitude of other contemporary comics, I'm not convinced.

Granted, it's been a while since I read Watchmen, but I certainly don't recall anything to suggest that Veidt was gay. In the film he definitely is, what with that folder in his computer labelled "Boys", but I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the comic. If anything, it's Rorschach who might be the repressed homosexual, given his comments about how handling women's underwear made him feel uncomfortable.

So, in brief: interesting theory, but I'm not convinced. I might need to re-read it, but I don't remember there being much to directly support your theory.

 

[Queen Michael]

Veidt's sexuality is made clearer in Before Watchmen: Ozymandias, but not even I actually consider that one canon (though it was a good read).

 

[Silvanus]

I see it as unlikely, mostly because Moore tended to focus on the negative aspects of society more than the positive. It's a society that creates its monsters, both in Watchmen and V for Vendetta.


You'll notice that in both these works, the 'redeeming' elements tend to be very personal, very small-scale. Night Owl's relationship with Silk Spectre; V's relationship with the woman whose cell was next to his in the camp. Of broader society, Moore pretty much falls on the critical side, nine times out of ten.

That's why I don't necessarily see him portraying a society in which acceptance is wider. Interesting thoughts, though, OP; I always love to hear analysis of his stuff.