At a DC panel at the Kapow comic convention in London, co-publisher Dan DiDio said the company is set to reintroduce a straight character as one of the DC universe's "most prominent gay characters," Bleeding Cool reports.

The news came one day before Marvel announced that Northstar, the super-speedy French-Canadian member of the X-Men, will marry his longtime boyfriend Kyle Jinadu in the June 20 issue of Astonishing X-Men.

The decision marks a sharp turn from last year when, in an interview with The Advocate, DiDio said DC would be launching new LGBT characters into its universe, but not switch the sexual orientation of existing characters.

At the panel on May 20, an audience member noted the publisher often reinvents characters entirely, changing their appearance, age, backstory and even race.

Senior vice-president of sales Bob Wayne told the panel that just like U.S. President Barack Obama, who recently became the first president to announce his support for gay marriage, DC's policy on the issue "has evolved."

But this isn't the first time DC's done this. In 2006, it relaunched Batwoman as a lesbian of Jewish descent.

Ironically, Batwoman was originally created in the '50s as a love interest for Batman to quell rumours he was gay.

While there have long been gay characters in comics, both independent and mainstream, the move to feature LGBT characters in big-name superhero titles is relatively new and gaining steam.

"Things have come a long way since the only gay people in mainstream superhero comics were the bad men who tried to sexually assault Bruce Banner," Rich Johnston wrote on Bleeding Cool.