- Marvel Comics has announcedplans for its first ever

drag queen superhero.

In the latest issue ofIceman comic book series,

Marvel introduces a newsuperhero named Shade.

Shade is a mutant superhero drag queen

who possesses teleportation powers.

This comes after Netflixdebuted an LGBTQ-themed

superhero show last summer,with cross-dressers,

called Super Drags.

I spoke with Matt Philbin,the Cultural Editor

of the Media ResearchCenter, about the move

in the comic world toward gayand transgender characters.

Matt, what is concerningabout Marvel introducing

a transgender character in this way?

- This book already has a gay superhero.

I guess this Iceman isalready gay and has been

for several years.

So, this is kind of a natural,or unnatural, progression.

You know, this is the kind ofstuff that you learn to expect

from essentially secular liberalism.

Comic books are sort ofan adolescent medium,

and it kinda makes sense thatthey're run by adolescents

who essentially like to betransgressive, who want to shock.

So, I don't think this iskind of all that earthshaking,

considering where the source is.

- What do you think theentertainment business' motivation

is for this, and what doesthe research that you have

showed thus far in termsof what we're gonna see?

- Well, the intent is bulkto shock, and then also

to sort of normalizethese fringe lifestyles,

these fringe identities,

that the rest of us justhave not experienced

or would prefer not to experience.

Research shows that thepower of popular media

is such that a few yearsago, Gallup did a poll

and 20% of Americans thought that

25% of Americans were gay.

That is, the sole reason forthat is the over-representation

of homosexuality on TV shows.

Just about every TV show has to have

a gay character these days.

Most movies feature a gay character,

if they're not straight outabout gay, about homosexuality.

So this is the power ofsocial media, and the idea

of normalizing thesebehaviors, these lifestyles,

is kind of what drives left-wingers

in the entertainment industry.