DC Comics Reveals First Trans Character

We've seen gay characters in mainstream superhero comic books, and even married gay characters, but in this month's Batgirl #19, DC Comics ratchets up its diversity a step further, revealing that Batgirl's roommate is a transwoman, Wired reports. The character, Alysia Yeoh, is also bisexual. Writer Gail Simone says she made up her mind to introduce the character when she realized just how many of her friends and fans were LGBTQ. "It just hit me: Why was this so impossible?"

Simone sees diversity as "the issue for superhero comics," because the tentpole characters were created a half-century ago, and hence are mostly white and straight. "If we only build around them, we look like an episode of The Andy Griffith Show for all eternity." To that end, she says she plans to introduce another trans character in a different comic in the near future. "It's time for a trans hero in a mainstream comic," she says. (More DC Comics stories.)