Alpha Flight issue #106, possibly for the first time blatantly dug up the issue of sexual orientation in a mainstream comic book from a major publisher, Marvel Comics. During an episode in which a villan goes on a berserk kiling spree over the death of his AIDS infected son, Northstar announces that his is gay. "I am Gay", he says.
Certainly this is not taken too lightly from the general public. In subsequent issues the matter is almost never touched upon and 25 issues later Alpha Flight ends. Most likely expedited by horrendous media criticism, and possibly pressure from the Comics Code Authority