#GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend Asks for More Representation

May 25, 2016 Angel Wilson

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Following hot on the heels of #GiveElsaAGirlfriend, the Captain America fandom has launched the #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend tag.  And wow, it’s really taken off.

CjM0L95XEAEbLDGThe #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend hashtag has fluctuated among the list of trending topics, at some points reaching as high as #3 in the United States in the middle of the night and early dawn hours.  The tag continued to trend throughout much of the day, becoming a gathering ground for not only Steve and Bucky shippers, but Steve and Tony shippers, supportive Steve and Peggy shippers, and non-shipping fans who are strongly in favor of some LGBTQ+ representation in the MCU.

The fact that both Elsa and Captain America are Disney properties may or may not be significant.  Disney has also received feedback from fans regarding Poe Dameron from Star Wars.  A lot of stock is being put into how media savvy and rock solid Disney’s PR team is and fans hope that at least one, if not all of these characters are revealed to be on the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

Will Disney listen to us?  I’m not sure, but I have no doubt that they’ve heard it.  They are far too in tune with fans and fandom activity for this to escape their notice.

The #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend tag generated a lot of pushback, however.  It seems not all were keen on the idea of America’s first Avenger being anything other than completely heterosexual.  There’s many different reasons people are opposed to the idea from run-of-the-mill homophobia and biphobia to more nuanced questions about whether a character’s sexuality should “change” from the source material.  The tag, while a minefield of viciousness at times, also provided some great (and often humorous) discussion on the matter.

Here are some of the common arguments and their rebuttals: 

Captain America is Heterosexual/Was In A Relationship with Peggy Carter

That’s Not In The Source Material

It’s Not Appropriate For Children

Not Every Character Needs to Be LGBTQ+/You Have Enough Representation

On second thought…

It Doesn’t Make Sense for the Story

And finally, your argument is invalid because we have Samuel L Jackson on our side…

 

Let me tell you, it’s been a wild ride seeing this hashtag inspire many mainstream outlets discuss our ship (Time, EW, Al Jazeera, Huffington Post, Radio Times).  I went through the same weird feeling with StormPilot, but as stunning as it is to see this gain mainstream press, it also makes me extremely hopeful.  Five years ago I wouldn’t have ever imagined this type of conversation would be taking place, but here we are.

Author: Angel Wilson

Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They’ve also written for Friends of Comic Con and is a 2019 Hugo Award winner for contributing fanfic on AO3. They identify as queer.

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4 thoughts on “#GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend Asks for More Representation”

  1. Pingback: Did Marvel Just Ruin Steve Rogers and Captain America?

  2. If it were Steve and Becky, or Steph and Bucky, they would have already made their relationship romantic, because all straight people need to do to be a couple is stand next to each other.

    1. Sadly you’ve totally hit the nail on the head with your reply… >_<

      Ironically I was on line when this news was trending & thought I'd have found soon an article on this blog too LOL!
      Well of course this is such a good news because it would have been just impossible wishful thinking only some years ago, but on the other hand my 2 cents is that I suspect we've regardless not yet reached that point where TRULY the LGBT realm is considered on the same level as the het characters'one.
      Hence this open minded attitude, as especially the supposed Elsa's future girlfriend, will have to take a backseat (since Captain's role also represents the typical white macho culture, & Disney the sensitive subject of children, education etc).
      On top of that Disney is such a giant of entertainment & IMO doesn't want to jeaopardize its big blockbusters to satisfy the "minorities": they'll play with it, winking at that fringe cos often it's a good market (as they are doing with Star Wars buzz), but until I saw something effective with my own eys I won't believe the hype…as they say people is always more modern than the establishment y'know! 😉

      Up to this moment in the mainstream environment the LGBT imaginery has been "officially" accepted, but usually it's always to fill the box of *diversity* (often through minor characters): when we'll have it for real with a major character (or protagonist better still) we will be able to say that the battle is won. However at least talking of it hopefully will improve the situation step by step.

    2. PS_Even worse is the fact that, even if it’s just for publicity, TPTB have greenlit the *Nazi C.America* but can’t imagine him as a bi MC…just saying?! Too bad anyway 🙁

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