A hero is someone who faces their fears and does what they believe is right, no matter what, but there are different kinds of bravery. There is the kind that enables a superhero to charge at a rampaging demigod to protect a school bus full of kids, and then there is the kind that allows a person to look someone they care about in the eye and divulge something deeply personal. As the number of LGBT comic book characters has increased, so too has the number of superheroes coming out of the closet to their family, friends, teammates and, on at least one occasion, sworn enemies. This list looks at 20 heroes who have decided to live out and proud.

To be clear, this article isn't about heroes who are already out of the closet, or who were outed by their creators in, say, an interview instead of in the story. Today we're going to focus on comic books in which superheroes have come out, either of their own volition or because someone else forced their hand. Even coming out to a single person is an act worthy of being commended on this list. We salute these most courageous of heroes and look forward to reading about many more in the future!

20 PIED PIPER

Pied Piper in The Flash

The Pied Piper, aka Hartley Rathaway, debuted in Flash #106 as a music-themed villain for the titular Flash to fight. Eventually, Hartley decides that crime just isn't doing it for him anymore and begins working with the Flash, now Wally West instead of Barry Allen, rather than against him. They even become good friends, hanging out in their civilian identities as well as fighting evil together.

They became so close, in fact, that Piper feels comfortable enough to come out to him in the pages of Flash #53.

It starts with Flash and Piper discussing the latter's days as a supervillain. They somehow get onto the subject of whether or not the Joker is gay, as one does. Piper rejects that theory out of hand, and the Flash then asks if he knows of any gay villains. Piper replies that he doesn't... "except me, of course." Wally is visibly surprised and takes the first opportunity to skedaddle. While Wally's reaction is somewhat facepalm-inducing, his reaction is due to shock more than anything else, and by the end of the story, we see that he honestly doesn't care one way or the other about Piper's orientation. They remain friends and continue to kick butt together in future issues.

19 ANGEL

Angel in 1602

While the concept of queerness as we understand it today hasn't existed long, queer people didn't just magically pop into existence within the past few decades. It therefore shouldn't come as a surprise that 1602, an alternate universe where Marvel's heroes were all born several hundred years early, features at least one queer character: Werner, also known as Angel. In 1602, mutants are referred to as witchbreed, and the X-Men are led by Carlos Javier. The newest member of Javier's crew is Angel, who the team rescues from being burned at the stake. Angel soon hits it off with fellow witchbreed John Grey who, unbeknownst to him, is a disguised girl named Jean. Their bond displeases Scotius Sumerisle, 1602's answer to Scott Summers.

John/Jean grows fond of Angel and starts spending more time with him, sending Scotius into a jealous rage. After Jean dies, Scotius flips, yelling at Angel to stop pretending he didn't know "John's" true identity. Angel, however, honestly didn't know the truth, but when Scotius tries to apologize, Angel explains that it isn't necessary. He may not have known John was a girl, he says, but that doesn't mean he didn't love her anyway. After this confession, Angel flies off, leaving Scotius to try to figure out what just happened.

18 BATWOMAN

Batwoman

Until recently, the United States did not allow openly gay people to serve in the military. Referred to as "Don't Ask Don't Tell", this policy forced queer recruits to stay in the closet if they wanted to serve their country. But while DADT is no longer around, it was still an issue when Batwoman, aka Kate Kane, reemerged on the comics scene in 2006. When the character first debuted half a century earlier, Kate, then known as Kathy, was a former circus aerialist and heiress who used a giant purse to carry around her crime-fighting equipment. The new, rebooted version is significantly different from the original, with the most publicized change of all being that she is now gay.

Kate's father, Jacob Kane, is with the military, as was her mother, Gabi. 

Kate very much wants to follow in their footsteps. But thanks to DADT, Kate has to decide between her dream career and being true to herself. She chooses to tell the truth about her orientation and is expelled from West Point. After coming out to the entire U.S. government, Kate must come out to her father. He accepts her easily, stating how proud he is of how she conducted herself in such a difficult situation.

17 ALEX DANVERS

Alex Danvers on Supergirl

Not a super but definitely a hero, Alex Danvers is Kara's older sister in the TV series Supergirl. She is an agent with the Department of Extranormal Operations, an organization that protects the world from alien threats. She is also gay, but it takes her a while to figure that out and admit it, even to herself. Alex seems perfectly fine in her world of denial until Maggie Sawyer comes to town. Maggie is a police officer investigating an attack on the president. As Maggie and Alex spend more time together, both on- and off-duty, Alex learns that her new friend is gay who thinks that Alex shares her proclivities.

This triggers something of a personal crisis in Alex. She seeks out her sister for advice and tells Kara all about her very confusing Maggie-related feelings. This isn't a straightforward coming-out scene, as Alex at no point identifies herself as queer. In fact, she seems to shy away from labeling herself just yet. She talks through her jumble of emotions, and by the end of the episode, she comes to the conclusion that yes, she is gay, and yes, she likes Maggie. The sisters hug it out and Kara encourages Alex to go tell Maggie about how she feels.

16 WICCAN AND HULKLING

Wiccan and Hulkling

One of Marvel's most high-profile gay couples, Wiccan and Hulkling, aka Billy Kaplan and Teddy Altman respectively, helped found the Young Avengers in 2005. Their status as a couple was confirmed in Young Avengers #6, although their teammates already knew about their relationship. Many readers had already guessed it as well, but coming out was the farthest thing from these young heroes' mind. Billy, Teddy and their teammates had kept their heroic activities secret from their parents.

This gets them in trouble with the Avengers and Billy and Teddy soon have to decide how, not if, they will tell their parents about their double lives.

They get into an argument about it, attracting the attention of Billy's parents. Billy tries to break the news gently. "It might be hard to deal with at first, but--" he begins. That's where his parents interrupt his grand speech, reassuring Billy that they've always known the truth and that they love him anyway. The joke is fairly predictable: Billy was trying to admit to being a superhero, but his parents erroneously assumed he was coming out. But it's a nice moment anyway. And hey, at least Billy doesn't have to worry about having that conversation on top of everything else.

15 ALL OF THE YOUNG AVENGERS

Miss America in Young Avengers

Hulkling and Wiccan may be the most famous of the Young Avengers' queer members, but they are very, very far from being the only ones. Young Avengers #15 features one coming-out scene after another. First up, Loki. He hits on Prodigy, who rebuffs him. Prodigy then kisses Speed while believing he is Patriot, another male hero. Speed, though surprised and not at all attracted to Prodigy, just says their friendship doesn't extend to smooching and goes to hang out elsewhere.

But Loki and Prodigy aren't the only Young Avengers to come out this day. Miss America explains that her previous kiss with a boy was just an experiment. In the very next panel, the Kree hero Marvel Boy casually mentions that the Kree have entire spaceships devoted to such "exploratory" experiments. This prompts Hawkeye -- that's Kate Bishop, not Clint Barton -- to ask if she is the only straight person on the team. But according to Miss America, Hawkeye has been known to ogle her on occasion, so there's no way she's any straighter than the rest of them. Hawkeye does not argue with her. By our count, that leaves Speed as the only straight person in this comic... as of this writing.

14 AQUALAD

Aqualad in Teen Titans

Although Jackson Hyde was raised on dry land, he is at least half Atlantean. As such, whenever he goes in the water, he grows gills and webbed digits. Obviously that would be a bit difficult to hide at a pool party. Jackson spent his childhood pretending to be afraid of water so he could avoid having to explain himself to anyone. After a lifetime of denying that part of himself, Jackson finally embraces his heritage and becomes the new Aqualad, sidekick to Aquaman and member of the Teen Titans.

Jackson inherited his Atlantean attributes from his biological father, Black Manta.

Manta is a bit of a sourpuss. He has sworn to destroy Aquaman and everything he holds dear, even Aqualad. Blood is not thicker than water in this case, it would seem. But awkward family politics won't stop Jackson from engaging in a little father-son bonding time. In Teen Titans #10, Jackson attempts to strike up a conversation with Black Manta by sharing some things about his life. Among the details he chooses to share is the fact that he is gay. For his part, Black Manta doesn't care. He hates all of humanity equally, regardless of race, gender or orientation -- how progressive of him.

13 NORTHSTAR

During a typical super-brawl in Alpha Flight #106, Northstar comes across an abandoned baby girl. He brings the child to a hospital, where the doctors quickly learn she is dying of AIDS. Grief-stricken, Northstar adopts the girl for whatever time she has left, and all of Canada rallies around the pair in sympathy. Well, most of Canada rallies. One man, Major Mapleleaf, is upset that everyone is getting all misty-eyed over a baby when his own son, Michael, a gay man who died of AIDS, received nothing but scorn and was blamed for his own illness.

For some reason, Major Mapleleaf decides that killing the AIDS-afflicted baby will make him feel better. Northstar stops him, and as they fight, the major goes on and on about how unfair it is that gay people are blamed for the AIDS crisis. Northstar finally has enough of that and tells Major Mapleleaf that he knows all about the discrimination gay men face, because he's gay too. It's a rather silly moment by modern standards, but its importance in the history of queer comic book characters cannot be overstated. And Northstar has gotten a little less on the nose since then, settling down with his business manager, Kyle Jinadu.

12 ANOLE

Anole in New X-Men

Everyone should be able to come out whenever and to whomever they choose. Unfortunately, some people have that option taken away from them. That's as true in comics as it is in real life. Victor Borkowski, aka Anole, finds this out the hard way. Victor is a mutant teenager who resembles a lizard/human hybrid. His powers include your standard enhanced strength, stamina and agility, as well as camouflage and the ability to stick to walls. While he debuted in New Mutants #2 in 2003, it wasn't until New X-Men #43 in 2007 that he officially came out of the closet.

Rockslide, another member of the New X-Men, decides they all need to engage in some good old-fashioned team bonding.

To facilitate said bonding, he acts about as subtle as we would expect from a guy with a name like Rockslide and blabs that Anole is gay.  None of the X-Men care. In fact, they already knew. But Anole is clearly upset about the violation of privacy. Rockslide may not have meant any harm, but spilling secrets about people without permission, whether they're gay or not, is not something heroes -- or decent people - -should do. The teachers at Xavier's should probably hold a seminar about that.

11 KAROLINA DEAN

Karolina and Nico in Runaways

Runaways tells the story of a group of teenagers who, upon discovering their parents are supervillains, decide to use their various talents and powers to undo all the evil their parents have done. One of the Runaways, Karolina Dean, has spent her whole life thinking she's just the human daughter of two human actors. But then she finds out she is secretly an alien who can fly and generate force fields and energy beams. And that wasn't Karolina's only secret. She is gay with a crush on her fellow runaway, Nico Minoru. But Nico was seeing someone else, so Karolina pined away and said nothing.

Then, an opportunity. After her relationship goes awry, Nico swears off boys. Karolina misinterprets this remark to mean that Nico will now turn her attention to girls instead. This hope quickly dies when Karolina tries to kiss Nico, only for a surprised Nico to rebuff her. Nico is more confused than anything else. "You like girls?" she asks.  Karolina responds, "Yes?  Well, not all of them." Nico doesn't mind that Karolina is gay, but Nico is still straight and still not interested in a relationship right now. As of this writing, Karolina is dating Julie Power, formerly of the Power Pack.

10 THE AMAZONS

Wonder Woman Earth One

This one was obvious to many readers. The Amazons are an all-female society of warriors who have been isolated from the rest of the world, including men, for centuries. It only makes sense that they would all be some flavor of queer, but it wasn't until recently that DC made it official. In Wonder Woman: Year One, we see Diana discussing the nature of Amazonian society with Etta Candy. Diana is apparently very open about it all, and there's no reason she shouldn't be.

For her, this is just an integral part of every aspect of everyday life, not something to hide for fear of a bad response.

In another example of the Amazons' casualness when it comes to their romantic lives, a man asks what the Amazons have done for companionship during their many centuries of isolation. The reply he gets is a no-brainer: that many Amazons turn to each other for love, comfort, family and so forth. This idea of the Amazons all being queer should, of course, extend to Diana herself. But while writer Greg Rucka has confirmed that Wonder Woman is bisexual, the comics themselves have yet to really do anything with that information, and the 2017 movie ignored it all together.

9 VICTORIA OCTOBER

Victoria October in Detective Comics

Dr. Victoria October is a scientist with Advanced Research Group Uniting Superhumans, or A.R.G.U.S. It's a government organization devoted to scientific research and helping metahumans end threats from other metahumans. She makes her first appearance in Detective Comics #948, where she helps Batwoman dispose of some violently angry genetic experiments. Up until now, there has been no hint that Victoria is anything but another slightly eccentric scientist. But then, when Batwoman remarks on her unusual name, Victoria mentions that she changed it because her "deadname didn't have half the panache."

"Deadname" is a term trans people use to discuss the names they went by before coming out. And hey, if you're changing your name anyway, why not go the extra mile and pick the coolest name possible?  All in all, Victoria's is an extremely casual coming out. She doesn't treat it as a big deal, nor does anyone else in the story. It's simply a part of her that she is perfectly comfortable sharing with friends and friends of friends. As a side note, Victoria's coming out is primarily for Batwoman's -- and the reader's -- benefit. Victoria and Batman have known each other for some time, and he was already aware she is transgender. He even sent her a card when she transitioned.

8 ICEMAIDEN

Icemaiden in Justice League America

Debuting in Infinity Inc. #32 in 1986, Sigrid Nansen is an ordinary Norwegian woman until she agrees to participate in certain experiments designed to give her ice powers. The experiment is a success, although it also turns her skin blue. She then takes the name Icemaiden and joins the Global Guardians. The Guardians, as the name suggests, are a team of heroes with members from all over the world. But Icemaiden doesn't last long with them. She feels overshadowed and redundant next to fellow Norwegian hero Ice and ultimately quits the team. Later on she stages a heroic comeback and joins the Justice League, where she becomes teammates with the Atom Smasher.

Atom Smasher apparently takes a fancy to his new teammate, because in Justice League America #110, he asks Icemaiden out on a date. 

To convince her of their compatibility, he points out that they have a lot in common.  Icemaiden agrees, stating that one of their many commonalities is their mutual interest in women. It's a lighthearted moment, and Icemaiden was probably expecting to get a laugh out of him. But the pronouncement instead sends Atom Smasher into a state of shock. She must have been so disappointed.

7 MIDNIGHTER

Midnighter in Midnighter Killing Machine

Midnighter and Apollo didn't come out to readers in the traditional sense -- readers  just sort of figured it out for themselves after watching them hang out and exchange a kiss before a big battle. Nor did they come out to their fellow members of the Authority, who lightly teased them about their relationship but did not require an actual official coming-out speech -- at least not as far as we ever saw. But coming out is not a one-time event. Even after coming out to friends, family and/or coworkers, there is an entire world of people out there around whom the subject of romance or orientation might come up.

In Midnighter: Killing Machine, a man named Anton Paulus plants a bomb in Midnighter's chest to force him to go back in time and kill Adolf Hitler. Before Midnighter can accomplish this task, he is arrested by police from the far future whose sole job it is to prevent time travelers from killing Hitler. One of the cops, a woman named Bonnie, asks if Midnighter wants to sleep with her. Midnighter politely turns her down, coming out to her in the process. He quickly realizes that Bonnie has no idea what "gay" means, as everyone in the future is basically bi. He gets a good laugh out of that.

6 CREOTE

Creote in Birds of Prey

After leaving the KGB, Aleksandr Creote lent his services to Savant, aka Brian Durlin, a would-be vigilante turned blackmailer. No matter what Savant does, whether it be torturing superheroes or attempting to turn over a new leaf, Creote sticks close and does whatever Savant requires. His loyalty at least partially derives from the fact that Creote has a big secret crush on Savant. Savant may be great with computers and gathering information, but he's apparently clueless when it comes to interpersonal relationships, as he is totally in the dark about Creote's feelings. But then Savant and Creote start spending a lot of time around the Birds of Prey, an all-female group of superheroes. The Birds are all accomplished snoops and detectives. News of Creote's unrequited love is bound to get out eventually.

Sure enough, it's the Birds who unceremoniously push Creote out of the closet. 

Black Canary casually tosses out the fact that she knows Creote is gay. She asks him in front of witnesses if Savant knows that he's in love with him, because apparently it never occurred to her that maybe Creote wouldn't want to be suddenly outed. Creote says that Savant doesn't know, thus confirming both his interest in men and his interest in one man in particular.

5 RENEE MONTOYA

Renee Montoya in Gotham Central

In 52 #48, Renee Montoya became the Question, a faceless vigilante. But before that, she began her career as a Gotham City cop. In Gotham Central, Renee attracts the attention of Two-Face, who decides that he is in love with her. He plans to win her heart by completely ruining her life. Step one in the plan? Out her as a lesbian to the entire GCPD. Through the services of a private investigator, Two-Face scrounges up a photo of Renee kissing a woman and sticks it on a bulletin board at police headquarters. News spreads rapidly, even outside the police department, forcing Renee to make some tough decisions.

Her brother Benny is generally okay with his sister's orientation. However, they very strongly disagree about whether or not she should come out to their extremely religious parents. Benny thinks it's best for her to stay in the closet, while Renee is rapidly getting frustrated with his overprotectiveness. But ultimately, it's Renee's decision to make. She tells her parents the truth, though it costs her dearly. They tell her never to come home again, leaving Renee in tears. It is not the greatest outcome, and while it wasn't her choice to come out of the closet, Renee took control of the situation and did what was best for her.

4 TONG

Tong from FF

Tong is one of several Moloids -- a simple-minded subterranean race often abused by others for nefarious purposes -- rescued by the Thing and brought to the Baxter Building to live out their lives in peace and freedom. There are four refugee Moloids all together: Tong, Turg, Korr and Mik. Up until this point, everyone just sort of assumed that Moloids have a concept of gender comparable to humans', and that all four of the Baxter Building Moloids identified as male. That changes in FF #6. Tong dons a pink dress and gathers her siblings together to make an important announcement. "I have a girl inside me," she says, in what is quite possible the most adorable coming-out ever published in a comic. "I tried to be a boy like you, but there is no boy here."

Tong's brothers listen attentively to her speech and immediately reassure her that they love her just the same as before.

Tong cries in relief. Fortunately for her nerves, she does not have to come out to anyone else. The other denizens of the Baxter Building figure it out for themselves when they see the quartet, including Tong in her new dress, happily strolling down the corridor holding hands. Everyone takes it in stride.

3 COAGULA

Coagula and Robot Man talking in Doom Patrol

The Doom Patrol is known for having a membership of misfits. So it makes sense that they were one of the first superhero teams to accept a transgender member. Meet Kate Godwin, aka Coagula. She has the power to turn solid objects into liquid and vice versa. In Doom Patrol #70, published in 1993, Kate single-handedly defeats the Codpiece, a villain who is exactly as ridiculous as he looks and sounds. Her actions impress the Doom Patrol, who quickly extend an offer to join them. Coagula, who had previously been rejected by the Justice League, is happy to accept the offer.

Right from the start, Kate was very open about her gender identity, but not everyone on the team got the message right away. Robotman, for example, didn't quite get it when he was told that Kate had had surgery. He's annoyed when he finally figures it out, requiring Kate to explain what being transgender means and that a person's biology does not dictate their gender -- a fact which Robotman should have known already, given that he is entirely made of metal and that team leader Niles Caulder is nothing more than a head on a tray at this point.

2 MASQUERADE

Masquerade in Blood Syndicate

Masquerade is a member of Blood Syndicate, all of whom gained powers from tainted tear gas used to quell a riot. Each one of them got different abilities. Masquerade can shapeshift into any shape and form he desires. But what his teammates, and the readers, don't realize at first is that Masquerade is using his power 24/7. Specifically, although Masquerade is a man, what he looks like now is not what he looked like before gaining powers. Masquerade's teammate Fade is the first to learn of this.

When Masquerade finds out that Fade knows about him, he doesn't take it well.

He threatens to tell the rest of the team that Fade is gay if Fade outs him. Masquerade then gives an impassioned speech about how he has always been a man, regardless of his physical attributes, and that his powers have allowed him to match his body to his mind. He won't allow anyone to threaten his newfound freedom, not even Fade. Just to be clear, threatening to out someone else is not cool. But still, considering this is the '90s, this isn't bad representation. Masquerade isn't confused or a woman playing dress-up. He is a man, pure and simple.

1 ICEMAN

Iceman in Uncanny X-Men

When he debuted in Uncanny X-Men #1 way back in 1963, Bobby Drake, aka Iceman, was like every other comic book superhero: straight. We saw him date and drool over plenty of girls over the years. But it turns out that Bobby was lying to himself every time he showed interest in a girl. In All-New X-Men, the original teenage X-Men -- Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel and Iceman -- get dragged into the present day, where they inevitably interact with their adult selves. Some interactions are more awkward then others. Uncanny X-Men #600 shows Young Bobby and Young Jean dragging Bobby aside. Once they are alone, Young Bobby comes out to his older self.

Young Bobby doesn't want to hide any part of who he is, meaning that he intends to live openly as a gay superhero. This presents an obvious problem for Bobby, who has remained in the closet all these years and isn't sure he's ready to come out quite yet. He explains that he already gets enough flak for being a mutant and doesn't want people to hate him for his sexuality on top of that. In return, he gets a comforting psychic hug from Young Jean. Young Bobby just wants to know if he thinks Angel is attractive.