Today marks the release of Batgirl #42, and although it features a jam-packed story full of intrigue and adventure, the most important plot point just might be the upcoming nuptials of one particular character in Batgirl's universe.
Spoilers ahead — please note that the following contains spoilers for Batgirl #42.
So who's getting married?
It's none other than Alysia Yeoh, who announces her engagement at the end of the issue to someone named Jo.
And why is this important? Not only is Alysia the first major openly transgender character in mainstream comics, but she's also now the first major trans character to get hitched in mainstream comics.
Alysia first appeared in Batgirl #1, in which she became Barbara's new roommate. She had a brief romance with Barbara's psycho brother, James Gordon Jr., but fortunately, that didn't work out. After Barbara reveals herself as Batgirl to Alysia, Alysia reveals that she is transgender to Barbara.
At the time, Gail Simone was writing for Batgirl and she spoke about the significance of creating the first transgender character in mainstream comics.
"Look, we have a problem most media don't have, which is that almost all the tentpoles we build our industry upon were created over a half century ago... at a time where the characters were almost without exception white, cis-gendered, straight, on and on," said Simone to Wired. "It's fine — it's great that people love those characters. But if we only build around them, then we look like an episode of The Andy Griffith Show for all eternity."
Just a few years ago, in 2013, the writers for Batwoman left DC Comics after claiming that the company would not allow Kate Kane (Batwoman) and Maggie Sawyer to get married. Does this mean that the company has changed its mind on gay marriage for its characters? Or is Alysia an exception as she isn't the main character? It's hard to say, but attitudes are in general shifting — even in comics, as Gail Simone noted back when Alysia came out to Barbara.
Via: Bleeding Cool
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