Holy Flashback! First Transgender Character in the Batman Universe to Appear in Batgirl

Since this was a huge milestone in comics history, we at Caped Crusades thought we’d revisit this particular Batgirl issue with an unpublished article written before we had such a platform from which to pontificate. Batgirl #19 hit shelves in 2013, but now we get to show you our reaction and opinion as it was a year ago…

Finally! It’s about time! I am so excited to announce that the Batman universe’s first transgender character will be admitting their secret to Barbara Gordon in the current issue of Batgirl! This is what I love about comics in this day and age, that we get to see stuff like this! At one time, thanks to the Comics Code Authority, LGBT characters were banned from comic books, but now they have a strong presence in comic books (as well they should) with characters like Kate Kane the Batwoman, and Green Lantern Alan Scott, they are even getting married!

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Here are a couple snippets from the original article I found on the subject, over at wired.com:

"In Batgirl #19, on sale today in both print and digital formats, the character Alysia Yeoh will reveal that she is a transwoman in a conversation with her roommate, Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl). Taking care to distinguish Yeoh’s sexual orientation from her gender identity, Batgirl writer Gail Simone noted that the character is also bisexual. Interior page of Batgirl #19, story by Gail Simone, art by Daniel Sampere and Vincente CifuentesAlthough Alysia Yeoh may be the first ongoing transgender character in a mainstream superhero book, Simone notes that there have been transgender characters before in independent comics and mature readers titles; and even in the Marvel and DC superhero universes, several characters have achieved gender-fluidity through fantastical means like magic, shape-shifting, brain-swapping, and cloning. “Those characters exist [and] that’s great, but I wanted to have trans characters who aren’t fantasy-based. And I feel like there’s a lot there yet to do.”"

You can read the full article written by Laura Hudson, here on wired.com. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article I am extremely proud to be able to report on this subject, and thrilled that the first ongoing transgender character in mainstream superhero comics is a character in the Batman universe! As a bisexual woman myself it thrills me to no end to see LGBT characters included in the Batman universe.

I hope to get out to the comic book shop and read Batgirl #19 along with the new Batman comics that have come out today and if I can get to the shop I will provide a couple reviews!

We want to hear from you! What dis you think of DC introducing the first ever transgender character into the Batman universe? Leave us your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!

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