Yummy long-haired apocalypse survivor Jesus came out of the closet on last night’s Walking Dead, making him the third LGBTQ character on the show (not including Daryl, who we are all still hoping is kind of, maybe, a little bit bisexual, maybe. Possibly).
Via NewNowNext:
The moment occurred in a conversation between the elusive hero and Maggie. During their talk, Jesus revealed that he grew up in a group home and has always had problems feeling like he belong anywhere. He went on to say that it’s been difficult for him to get close to anyone, including “neighbors, friends, boyfriends,” with Maggie telling him he should try it some time.
Fans of the comic book have been wondering for some time now if the show was going to acknowledge his sexuality.
When previously asked about his character’s sexuality, Jesus portray Tom Payne said:
“I think that would be amazing.”
He continued: “Yeah, who cares? He’s a badass and he happens to be gay.”
“I think that’s one of the strongest things about Robert [Kirkman] and how he writes the comic books. Why wouldn’t he be? And I see no reason why that would be different in the show.”
The show’s fan base includes a number conservative viewers who went ballistic when gay couple Aaron and boyfriend Eric shared a steamy smooch on the show’s fifth season. But because Jesus is a fan-favorite and a prominent figure in the universe will hopefully allow producers to explore his sexuality.
“In my opinion there should be more awesome gay people in fiction because there are plenty of awesome gay people in real life,” Robert Kirkman, who created The Walking Dead comics, said last year.
“I want Jesus to be a character where his sexuality is as unimportant as Rick or other heterosexual characters. So we won’t focus on it constantly and it won’t be the focus of any big storylines for him… but he’ll make it with a dude every now and then… before going out and drop kicking zombies.”