DC Comics to unveil one of its major characters as gay

American comic book industry DC Comics, which is famous for its iconic characters like Batman and Robin, Superman, and Wonder Woman, plans to reintroduce one of its major superheroes as openly gay next month.

DC Entertainment’s senior vice president of publicity Courtney Simmons, confirmed the news about its comics character coming out of the closet.

“One of the major iconic DC characters will reveal that he is gay in a storyline in June,” Simmons told ABC News.

The folks at DC Comics aren’t saying, but they do say it’s the latest effort to make sure their comics keep up with the times.

Last September, DC Comics relaunched its entire line of comic books to feature an updated look and a new lineup of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) superheroes: including Voodoo, an African American bisexual woman, and Batwoman, an open lesbian.

Batwoman garnered DC comics an Outstanding Comic Book award from GLAAD, an advocacy and watchdog organization for LGBT issues.

“DC and (archrival) Marvel are recognizing that there is an LGBT audience that has been reading their comics for years,” Matt Kane, associate director of entertainment and media for GLAAD said.

“When creating these fictional worlds it’s important to show the full diversity,” he said.

Aside from making good business sense, Kane said younger readers are perfectly comfortable with gay characters and expect to see their peers represented.