DC Comics Introduces First Openly Transgender Character In Batgirl Comic

[TatianaSummer]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/dc-comics-transgender-batgirl_n_3061268.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

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[Ecstatic]

Very cool. There were prominent trans characters in Sandman and The Invisibles in the 90s on DC's Vertigo label, but this is a first for mainstream superhero comix. Kudos to DC for not only breaking ground, but for doing so with sensitivity and intelligence.

[nysprod]

That's really interesting, especially when you consider kids buy the comic...IMO, things like this can have a huge influence because the earlier something becomes part of one's life, the more it seems like a normal part of life.

Actually, I didn't know about the Huff Post gay voices section...I'm enjoying it.

[scroller]

That's really interesting, especially when you consider kids buy the comic...

The average age of a comic reader today is 35. Only about 1-2% are below the age of 18.

http://comicsbeat.com/dc-retailer-survey-results-older-male-middle-class-avid/

[giovanni_hotel]

Wow. That's kinda major.
There were no openly gay characters in comics when I was a kid. TGs in comic books is a serious cultural milestone.

[MdR Dave]

Batgirl is sexy.

[wiltthestilt]

There have been openly gay characters in comics for at least 25 years years and probably going back to the 70's although not many have had more than supporting roles. I read comics avidly from age 12 until maybe age 20 or so and then and occasionally after that. This is the first major transgendered character I am aware of in a regular superhero comic.

[rockabilly]

I think that Northstar was the first openly gay Marvel character.
Correct me if Im wrong.

[wiltthestilt]

I think that Northstar was the first openly gay Marvel character.
Correct me if Im wrong.

In so far as Im aware. There was also a gay character in The Hulk but I dont know if he predated Northstar or not.

[rockabilly]

In Ultimate X-Men Colossus is gay.
Wolverines son Dakenn is bi ... He's also a sociopath.

[wiltthestilt]

Incidentally, the word "mainstream" in comics is a misnomer as rated R comics have been popular for decades and are sold at ordinary comic stores and bookstores just like regular comics.

[rockabilly]

Young Avengers members Wiccan and Hulkling are a couple too.

[Quiet Reflections]

In Ultimate X-Men Colossus is gay.
Wolverines son Dakenn is bi ... He's also a sociopath.
Yes but with all those pheromones that Daken is putting off you can't blame the guys for sleeping with everything that passes by him.

[PeePeeLover]

She should be named Cockgirl. Has a ring to it

[JenniferParisHusband]

She should be named Cockgirl. Has a ring to it

Is it a cock-ring? or more of a prince albert?

[PeePeeLover]

Is it a cock-ring? or more of a prince albert?


Why not both?

[Merkurie]

She is hot!
http://queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com/wp/docs/2013/04/Screen-shot-2013-04-11-at-5.27.58-PM.png

[brickcitybrother]

I think that Northstar was the first openly gay Marvel character.
Correct me if Im wrong.

If you go by the 'age' of characters or their timelines... then the Rawhide Kid was first. He first appeared in the mid-1950s was revived again in the 1970s and in the 2000s was yet revived again - this time to be revealed that his was gay.

But I really give DC kudos on this. Plus, I think they had gay marriages before Marvel too. Oh well, let's hope Marvel catches up and makes it better. Why Mystique comes to my mind, I don't know, other than if would be interesting if she could control how much of her copying she did. Oh well

[Buddy Wood]

Pretty cool thing either way. And it's been a long time since I've read any comic books but it seems everyone here is assuming this is a girl admitting she is an MtF. A comic book chick with dick. A ts most guys on here would dig. But just from the captions shown it seems like it could also be a very pretty girl admitting she wants to be a boy. An FtM. Have they established that in the mag?? lol I don't know the history behind the charcter so I'm just curious. Once again...pretty cool thing either way.

[Merkurie]

Dunno.
Not getting much of an FtM vibe.
http://www.wired.com/underwire/wp-content/gallery/batgirl/bg_19_4.jpg

[TatianaSummer]

Pretty cool thing either way. And it's been a long time since I've read any comic books but it seems everyone here is assuming this is a girl admitting she is an MtF. A comic book chick with dick. A ts most guys on here would dig. But just from the captions shown it seems like it could also be a very pretty girl admitting she wants to be a boy. An FtM. Have they established that in the mag?? lol I don't know the history behind the charcter so I'm just curious. Once again...pretty cool thing either way.

might, because she kind of have boobs and no adams apple. And if she was on the closet she would be trying to hide her breast.

[MHarrigan82]

I think Green Lantern is gay now. I know Mystique is bi she use to be Destiny lover in the 80's. That is cool DC has a transgendered girl character. Marvel needs to have a hot transgendered chick in The Avengers or X-Men.

[BiBoyinBeantown]

Wolverines son Dakenn is bi ... He's also a sociopath.

*facepalm* not another Depraved Bisexual (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DepravedBisexual). (Yeah, I linked to TVTropes. There goes your productivity, but really, where was your productivity if you're looking at HA in the first place?)

:soapbox

That trope should be a :deadhorse by now.

:banghead

[Females+Shemales]

Shatterstar from Marvel is gay.

Green Lantern is gay, but I was disappointed it wasn't Hal Jordan. What a cop out!

[alpha2117]

Arguablly Northstar was the first gay character who was actually a regular in the book (Alpha Flight). Batwoman over in DC is a Lesbian and she has her own book. A couple of the Authority characters are in a gay relationship The Green Lantern & Colussus things annoy me -merely because I dont like retroactively making characters gay and those two have always been demonstrably heterosexual. Vertigo is full of gay, bi, lesbian and transgender characterds as are indy books. Then there is Howard Chaykin's Black Kiss which is a R rated book which frankly is stunningly brilliant -imagine if Renfield from Dracula was so obsessed with their boss they had plastic surgery to become him and then imagine Dracula was a immortal female succubus and then throw in hard boiled noir and you get a vague idea of what it's like

[Tiffany Anne]

Black Kiss is porn...high class porn from one of the greatest comic creators ever, but still porn.

The Colussus and Green Lantern who are gay are alternate universe versions of the characters, not the "real ones" (ie, the ones who'll show up in movies or cartoons). There's also a gay Wolverine, who headlines a current series, but it's about to be cancelled.

There's been a large number of "transgendered" characters in comics...mainstream even, though it's most often been magical or sci-fi. But comics tackle issues thru metaphor, so there's that.

And anyway, Marvel has had the X-Men since the 60s.

[sabre666]

I agree with Alpha. I think it's cool that they're adding characters like this but I really do not like the retroactively changing existing ones. Northstar always had the hints there ever since Alpha Flight got its own book. Apollo and Midnighter were gay from the get-go too. But this changing characters just to make a politically correct statement is the wrong way to go.
Introduce new characters with their own histories instead of warping the history of old ones to fit into this new storyline.
The New gay Green Lantern is not really an old character, he's a new character in a new place with an old name. DC has essentially created a new Earth-2 and created a whole new mythos to go with it. No problem.
Marvel re-writing Rawhide Kid into a gay character? Wrong! Not to mention that if he were that openly gay in 1870, he'd wouldn't have been around in 1871. The Old West wasn't exactly San Francisco or Greenwich Village 2013, know what I mean?

[beatlephil]

It should be noted here that the marketing of comic books have radically changed since the mid-seventies when we began to see distribution of comic books primarily in comic book stores and not at newsstands, supermarkets, drug stores, etc. where kids used to buy their comic books. All of these comics featuring gay characters and themes are strictly kept away from mainstream outlets to prevent them from getting into the hands of juveniles because they're either R or X-rated by the comic book industry's own rating system. And these stores are doomed in the long-run with more and more comics being digitally distributed over the Internet. Which makes my comic book collection more valuable each day. A Golden Age Superman comic recently sold for over $2 million. These digital comics are worthless and probably spells the end of comics. And so it goes....