The Green Lantern's gay sidekick makes history

After being spotted kissing his boyfriend, David, outside of a club, the two are chased by the gang members, who eventually catch and severely beat Terry in an alleyway. The bashing results in him going into a coma and sparking national media coverage and even commentary on the barbaric treatment from President Lex Luthor. Terry remained in a coma for a few days before finally regaining consciousness, and with the help of his friends he soon recovered from his extensive injuries. Blaming himself for Terry's beating, Kyle left the earth once Terry awoke from his coma. Terry and his boyfriend move into an apartment together, and he eventually writes a book on his life and the hate crime he suffered.

Green Lantern was honored with a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book two years in a row because of this storyline (they were awarded the previous year for Terry's coming out issue). This issue was a groundbreaking moment, not just for gays in comics, but for the comic industry. As comics mature over the years, they have dealt with serious topics such as suicide and drugs, but never a hate crime, especially one that is inflicted on a gay character. Since the incident, Terry has mostly slipped into the background of the DC Universe, and even though his time in the spotlight was short, it was still a story that needed to be told, and still holds the same effect, if not more, to this day.

*This storyline is collected in the "Green Lantern: Brother's Keeper" Trade Paperback.

-- CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPH

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