Since this is technically a comics thread, this is only semi-OT:

Archie, Meet Kevin, Riverdale’s New Gay Student

Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead have a new friend: Archie Comics’ first openly gay character.

Kevin Keller, who first appears in Veronica #202 released on September 1st, 2010, is a teenager at Riverdale High School, the fictional universe that has been entertaining kids of all ages since 1939.

“In the last year or two, we’ve been introducing a lot of new characters: Diverse characters, characters with different ethnicities. With trying to be diverse, we wanted to have everybody at the table,” said cartoonist Dan Parent, who’s writing and drawing the issue. “We knew at some point we wanted to introduce a gay character, and when I came up with the story idea, we felt it worked in context with this story.”

In his introductory story, titled “Isn’t it Bromantic?,” Kevin’s good looks get the attention of Veronica, who doesn’t know he’s gay because he’s the new kid in town. Her thwarted attempts at winning his attraction amuse the other characters – particularly Jughead.

“They just like watching Veronica making a fool of herself, trying to get this guy to like her,” Parent said. “At the beginning of the book, Kevin tells Jughead first that he’s gay. And Kevin feels kind of bad and wants to tell Veronica why he’s not interested. But Jughead keeps saying, ‘No, you should wait to tell her,’ because he’s enjoying watching Veronica’s antics.”

Cue socon outrage in 3…2…1…