marvel already had a gay character years ago come out in the comic series Alpha Flight, and he was hot

The word is "midriff" not mid-drift.

That's a hot pic of Batwoman.

If I were a woman, I'd go lesbian for her.

and let's not forget Midnighter and Apollo the couple form Authority..it may not be Marvel but it's still gay!

Justice League is DC Comics, not Marvel. Marvel has had some great exposure for gay characters (Northstar, Hulking, Wiccan, Ultimate Colossus) in key positions on major teams (X-Men, Alpha-Flight, Young Avengers),

Apallo and Midnighter are from the Wildstorm Universe – which has been considerably more progressive than Marvel or DC in gay inclusion. They not only gave us two strong gay characters, but they also gave show us how much they care for each other regularly.

DC has had more gay SUPPORTING characters than actual gay heroes. With Obsidian as one oft neglected exception (JSA), and Grace and Thunder as the titillating other (Batman and the Outsiders), we don't see as many gay, lesbian or bisexual characters in the various line-ups of DC Comics' Justice League.

Though now that I think about it, there haven't been many out proud gay Avengers either. Living Lightning comes to mind, but he came out while with the Great Lakes Avengers, and that is as far from the big leagues as one can get in the Marvel U.

Actually, Living Lightning never officially joined the GLA…he was approached to join the team by Flatman and was briefly interested until he realized that they were not the Gay/Lesbian Alliance.

Both Marvel and DC have actually become quite progressive when it comes to gay and lesbian characters, specifically in the last few years, but there have been several even before that. Back in the early 80's, Marvel had the sexually ambiguous Mystique and Destiny who creator Chris Claremont had always written as lovers, but was never allowed to "officially" label them as such due to editorial mandate. Only in the last ten to fifteen years or so have writers been allowed to officially "out" the characters as bisexuals. The duo are also probably one of the best examples of a committed gay couple in comics as they were always shown to genuinely love each other (despite the fact that they were both villains) and even raised a child together (who would later become the X-Man, Rogue).

Marvel's first openly gay superhero was Northstar (then of Alpha Flight) and the storylines involving him were actually quite progressive for their time (Northstar was outed in the early 90's), such as his adopting an HIV positive baby girl. Northstar would later join the higher profile X-Men and while serving with that team, would become a mentor another gay mutant, Anole.

While Marvel probably has the largest number of gay characters in comics, DC probably has the highest profile character in Batwoman. In fact, the Batman family of comics probably has the highest concentration of major GLBT characters in comics today, with the aforementioned Batwoman, her lover Renee Montoya (now know as the Question), Holly Robinson (who briefly replaced Selina Kyle as Catwoman), Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn.

As for the Justice League, aside from lesser known heroes such as the Tasmanian Devil and Icemaiden, one of their top three members has long been believed to be bisexual due to their background: Wonder Woman. I believe there was a story years ago where they touched upon this, but it has never been actively pursued due to the fact that she is DC's premiere heroine and an iconic character. However, due to the fact that she was raised as an Amazon, it's not hard to believe that she might have sexual feelings towards another woman. I only hope that DC's current positive attitude towards gay characters will eventually allow for future writers to explore this side of Princess Diana in future stories.

Regardless, with Batwoman and Starman getting positions on DC's premier superhero team (and Batwoman getting her own solo series soon), I'm looking forward to the future of gay representation in comics…it can only get better.