Early in the character's publication history, Anole's sexual identity was alluded to by his close relationship with his squad mentor Northstar, one of Marvel's most recognized openly gay superheroes. After Northstar's "death," Anole's conversations with his former mentor Karma, an openly lesbian character, discussed how he felt it was important for him to have someone like Northstar, who "understood him," to talk to in particular. His sexual orientation was later confirmed by DeFilippis on an online forum, who stated that the dialogue intentionally alluded to this, and was reaffirmed in "The X-Men: 198 Files." His sexual orientation continued to be mentioned indirectly, and other allusions included him pointing out that "Young Avengers" characters Wiccan and Hulkling are gay before being cut off and Anole attacking Rockslide for calling him a "sissy," Rockslide shouting that he "didn't know" and that he "shouldn't be so sensitive." In the following issue, Anole's sexuality was officially stated outright for the first time when Rockslide announces, "Anole's gay!" in an attempt to quickly get the remaining students to bond with each other by opening up about their secrets. Despite Rockslide's vocal acceptance of his sexuality, Anole was outraged, though Loa stated that his classmates already knew.