"Dad wants to know if you're upset about a guy."

— Lana Lang to Clark Kent, Pilot

"She rejected me, and I acted without thinking. But I love her. And I'll do anything to be with her."

— Tina Greer to Clark Kent, Visage

"I'm scoring big points with the boyfriend, Olsen."

— Colin to Jimmy Olsen, Cure

"I assume this means there's a Super-Fella...or Super-Bella...in your life? All of this is a judgement-free zone."

— Lois Lane to Barbara Gordon, Alien

Overview

Airing between 2001 and 2011, Smallville might have been the first adaptation of either DC Comics or Marvel Comics (potentially, the first superhero TV show or movie, at all) to feature openly and acknowledged homosexual or bisexual characters. The film X-Men (2000), released the year before the premiere of Smallville, had featured Mystique, a canon bisexual character in the comics. However, none of the films in the 20th Century Fox X-Men film series ever depicted Mystique as being interested in anything other than men, all the way up to the character's final appearance in the film series in 2019.^[1][2]

It should be noted that these concepts were even a recent development in both DC Comics and Marvel Comics by 2001. Until around 1989, the Comics Code Authority had forbidden the depiction or even mention of homosexuality in American comic books. Marvel superhero Northstar (the first openly gay, mainstream superhero), who had been intended to be gay by his original creator (John Byrne), first appeared in 1979. However, he was not acknowledged as being gay until Alpha Flight #106 (March, 1992).^[3] Less than a decade before the debut of Smallville. A few examples on the DC Comics side, writers danced around the sexuality of DC superhero Obsidian (a character first appearing in the early 1980s) in the 1990s. However, he was not established as being gay until 2006.^[4] Renee Montoya had first appeared in 1992, but was not established as a lesbian until 2003.^[5] Meanwhile, Kate Kane (Batwoman) first appeared in 2006.

Television and film adaptations sometimes had acknowledgements of homosexuality, but they tended to be limited to jokes. For example, in the film Spider-Man (2002), the titular character makes a homophobic joke about wrestler "Bonesaw" McGraw.^[6]

The characters listed below are Smallville characters who are either acknowledged or indicated to be either homosexual or bisexual. It should also be noted that a high number of guest characters (be they major or minor guest characters) never had their sexuality, straight or otherwise, touched upon.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12]} Naturally, unless otherwise indicated, one should never assume that someone is homosexual/bisexual (or heterosexual).

Lesbians

• Tina Greer - potentially the first openly bisexual character in a superhero TV series. In her second appearance, Tina was depicted as wanting to be romantically involved with Lana Lang.^[13]
• Maggie Sawyer - in the comic books, Maggie Sawyer is an openly lesbian character. Her role on Smallville was very small. She only appeared in four episodes (Insurgence, Exile, Exposed, and Descent). In two of them (Exile and Descent) she only appears briefly in one scene. In all four appearances, she is on the job as an officer of the Metropolis Police Department (in Descent, she speaks to Lex Luthor, after the apparent suicide of Lionel Luthor. Not the time or the place for Sawyer to start discussing her personal life). Her only onscreen interaction with women is in Exposed, where she takes a statement from Lois Lane and Chloe Sullivan, two witnesses to a hit and run accident. Though, this scene contains possible indications to Sawyer's sexuality. She remarks on the attractiveness of the victim, Melissa Paige. Upon turning away from Lois and Chloe, Sawyer smiles to herself and makes a whistling movement with her mouth then bites her lip.^{[14][15][16][17]} In terms of body language, biting one's lip can be a sign of either being nervous, or sexually attracted (with there being nothing in the scene to motivate the former).^[16]
• Athena - indicated by her demeanor and comments during her encounter with Lois Lane.^[18]
• Myrtle Lane - a relative of Lois Lane. Myrtle seemingly attends Clark and Lois' wedding with an unnamed woman as her plus-one (a position typically filled by a romantic partner).^[19]

Gays

• Doug - outs himself as homosexual, while Chloe Sullivan possessed the ability to compel anyone to tell the truth.^[20] As Tina Greer appears to be bisexual,^[21][13] it would then be possible that Doug was the first openly homosexual character in a DC Comics adaptation.
• Colin - mentions that he has got a boyfriend.^[22]
• Colin's boyfriend - an unnamed man who is in a relationship with Colin^[22]
• Bert Camp - Season Eleven indicates that Bert is homosexual, with Bert seemingly having a thing for Clark Kent.^[23][24]
• The Brain - is in a relationship with Monsieur Mallah.^[24]
• Monsieur Mallah - is in a relationship with the Brain.^[24]
• Maurice - the conversation between Maurice, Lois Lane and his co-worker America, indicates that he is homosexual.^[25]

Bisexuals

Partly due to bisexual erasure, bisexual characters can be more difficult to identify than homosexual characters. Daily Planet employee Colin is presumed to be homosexual, because he has got a boyfriend.^[22] Meanwhile, a character like Holly, in the Season One episode Leech, is presumed to be straight, because she has got a boyfriend.^[26] In actuality, neither Colin or Holly claims to be. However, there are some characters on Smallville who are indicated as being bisexual:

• Tina Greer - potentially the first openly bisexual or homosexual character in a superhero TV series. In her second appearance, Tina was depicted as wanting to be romantically involved with Lana Lang.^[13] In her first appearance, she is seemingly attracted to Whitney Fordman,^[21] which would indicate that Tina was attracted to both boys and girls.
• Tess Mercer - in her first encounter with Lois Lane in Odyssey^[27] (and many of their subsequent encounters^[28][29]), Tess is depicted as aggressively attracted towards Lois. According to Cassidy Freeman, it was written and played like "Is this a lesbian scene, or is this not? Is Tess Mercer a lesbian?".^[30] As Tess is also shown to have relationships and/or hooking up with Oliver Queen,^[31] Zod,^[32] and Emil Hamilton,^[33][34] her attraction towards Lois Lane would indicate that Tess is bisexual.
• Chrissy Parker - When Chloe Sullivan goes over Chrissy's past, and triple progeria cases, she includes Hammond School for Girls, an all-girls school. Her M.O. in 2002 points to Chrissy being involved with her victims (Troy Turner) or seducing them (Russell Burton). Indicating that Chrissy might have done the same at Hammond School for Girls. This would indicate that Chrissy was bisexual.^[35]
• Byron Moore - while Byron's romantic interest is depicted as being Lana Lang, when Byron is with Lana and Clark Kent at the Talon, he sits opposite Clark and begins to recite Sonnet 17.^[36] Sonnet 17 (along with the rest of Sonnets 1-126) is about the beauty of a young man. Indicating that Byron Morre might have more incommon with Lord Byron than just a name.
• Jeff Hage - Season Eleven indicates that Jeff is same-sex attracted,^[37][24] while he attends Clark and Lois' wedding in Season Ten with an apparent girlfriend.^[19]

Additionals

Some tie-in material and the Season Eleven comic book series establishes the existence, in the universe of Smallville, of some DC Comics characters who are canon homosexual or bisexual in the comics. As the appearances of these characters are minor (many being just cameos (as part of larger groups), some merely mentioned by other characters), there have been no space for any official confirmation on the page of the characters sexualities (ex. if any of the men and women in John Constantine's Gallery of Regrets are dead lovers of his). In some cases, there were not even room for them to be officially named. However, with lack of evidence to the contrary, these characters are presumed to have the same sexual orientation that they have in the original comic books.

Lesbians

• Renee Montoya - a member of the Gotham City Police Department.

Gays

• Todd Rice - son of Alan Scott.
• Prometheus - a criminal mastermind, and enemy of the Green Arrow.
• Ray Terrill/The Ray - a communications expert and ally of the Justice League

Bisexuals

• Element Lad (Jan Arrah) - a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
• Grace Choi - a member of the Outsiders.
• John Constantine - an exorcist, demonologist, and occasional master of the Dark Arts.
• Shrinking Violet (Salu Digby) - a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
• Poison Ivy (Pamela Isley) - a criminal, and an enemy of Batman.
• Harleen Quinzel - a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum.
• Madame Xanadu - established to exist as a comic book, it is unclear if she exists as an actual person in this universe.

Notes

• Lana Lang kissed three women during her time on the show: Tina Greer, Abigail Fine, and Buffy Sanders. However, Lana kissed Tina, while Tina had shape-shifted into Clark Kent (with Lana believing her to be Clark).^[13] Meanwhile, Abigail Fine and Buffy Sanders were two Freak of the week, who kissed Lana in order to infect her with something, rather than as an expression of sexual attraction.^[38][39] Also, in the case of Abigail Fine, Lana believed that it was Jason Teague kissing her.^[38] Though, how did Buffy Sanders discover that she could turn other girls into vampires by kissing them?^[39]
• In Rampage, Chloe and Lana pretend to be lesbians when a guy hits on them.^[40]
• In the Season Seven episode Fierce, two girls can be seen holding hands at the start of the episode.^[41] It is unknown if the two are a couple.
• When Lois Lane enters Club Desaad in the Season Ten episode Supergirl, two women can be seen enjoying each others company in the background.^[42]
• In Alien, the Bruce Wayne of Earth-13 refers to the Clark Kent of his universe (who only appears as a corpse) as a "pansy"^[43] (which is slang for a homosexual man). It should be noted that it is not unheard of in DC Comics or Marvel Comics for alternative universe characters to have a different sexuality than the main one. For example, Colossus (a Marvel Comics superhero) is depicted as straight in the main (Earth-616) universe, but is homosexual in the Earth-1610 Universe (the Ultimate Marvel line). Though, it is unknown if the Bruce Wayne of Earth-13 was indicating something about the personal life of the Earth-13 Clark Kent, or if he was just trying to insult him. What little is known about the Clark Kent of Earth-13 paints him as the opposite of the Clark Kent of Earth-1 in many ways. The Earth-1 Clark is an alien, who never cared for comic books.^[44] Meanwhile, the Earth-13 Clark Kent was a human, and a comic book fan, who was inspired by them to try and be a superhero.^[43]

Trivia

• In the episode Identity, Jimmy Olsen equates Clark Kent's situation with being in the closet.^[45]

Gallery

2x11 Visage Lana kissing "Clark Kent" (Tina Greer).

4x03 Façade Lana kissing Abigail Fine.

5x05 Thirst Lana making out with Buffy Sanders.

7X03 Fierce

10X03 Supergirl

References