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Rather than embed a giant string of tweets just go to this one and read the story that unfolds.

https://twitter.com/sapphicgeek/status/805146210235518976

Written by a comic shop clerk, it’s about how a teen girl came to the store in search of some comics to help her find her way in the world…and how she cried when the clerk helped her. It had to do with the character of Alex Danvers on Supergirl, who has been revealed to be gay and exploring a romance with long time LGBTQ character Maggie Sawyer…and in this relationship, this young woman, finding her own sexuality, found role models to show her how to be happy in her own life where it had seemed bleak before.

Thanks to the clerk, Mary, the girl walked out with copies of Batwoman, Gotham Central, Supergirl and Midnighter. Mary purchased three of them herself.

And this is why representation in comics, in television, in films, everywhere, is so important. It saves lives. It brings hope. It makes this a stronger, better world. When I write a story about a comic with a protagonist who isn’t a typical white male, there are inevitable comments about how these characters don’t resonate with “old timey wimey comics readers.” Well guess what, not everything has to be for old timers. Maybe they can be satisfied with the 75% of characters in films who are white and the 70% who are male. I don’t know the numbers for superhero comic book characters but, I’m guessing, it’s similar. Making comics where the protagonists are not all the same isn’t a fantasy … it’s just how the world works. 



It’s a scary time for a lot of people around the world now and we still need role models. Superhero comics have always been aspirational, and they need to represent ALL people on the entire spectrum of race, creed and gender. Even if it’s a message that saves one person out there, it’s worth it. 



After this tweet story got huge exposure, it was suggested that people donate to Equality Florida, an organization that’s dedicated to securing full equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. I’d suggest the same. Or buy a comic for someone you think might like it. Or need it.

7 COMMENTS

  1. speaking as an old white male that actually likes the idea of diversity, yep, no doubt about it, this is a scary time. not just here in the good old u.s. of a., but around the entire planet. folks that hate on the basis of color, gender, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation never seem to have a clue. they lose in the big scheme of history. even if the goal of equal rights and acceptance takes decades (and it usually does), in the end those rights are granted along with some measure of acceptance. does the sky fall, does the earth open up and swallow whole cities and nations, does the earth plunge into darkness when these rights are granted? i’d have to say no, none of that happens. what seems to happen is that the folks that hate lose their minds (what little they have that’s not preoccupied by hate) and double their efforts to turn back the clock and rescind any rights granted to the groups in question. even then they usually end up on the losing side of history because the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of folks out there do not have a problem with the groups that are the target of the folks that hate (ironic, isn’t it, that the folks that hate are they, themselves slowly, but surely becoming a minority). it took decades (even centuries) to get to this point and there is still work to do, we must stay vigilant to make sure that everyone is treated with respect, free from harassment, with the same rights enjoyed by every other member of society. history shows this will happen.

  2. Representation and diversification is soooooo important in all media. As a white guy, there are millions of characters I can relate to. But I’ve given Ms Marvel trades to some brown Muslim female friends and they’ve almost cried. I know a few full figured women who love Faith from Valiant. There are other characters, too, I’ve seen people embrace simply because they feel validated. I wish there was more of that.

    YAY Supergirl and YAY for this story!!

  3. Another reason representation is important? To help learn and relate to characters unlike ourselves. I’m a straight-male-white fan of Batwoman in large part because of her fascinating story. The fact that she is not like me in many respects makes her story even more interesting. I was very disappointed when her series ended and the reasons why. But I’m thrilled she will be coming back this spring.

  4. This is the most wonderful thing I’ve read today. Thanks for drawing my attention to it! (I’m not on twitter, so I’d never have seen it.)

  5. I read comic books for the stories. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Xombi, Squirrel Girl, Uncanny Avengers, Another Castle, The Mighty Zodiac. Sure, my favorite comic book character is Captain America, but there hasn’t been a good Cap book since Rick Remender ruined it. If you complain about a book because of a characters gender, color, sexual orientation, then you are reading comic books for the wrong reason. IN the end it is always about stories. Great stories, good stories, Heck, even a crappy story once in a while is pretty amusing.

  6. In my day, a black guy replaced Tony Stark as Iron Man, a black woman replaced a white man as leader of the X-Men, a right wing conservative replaced Steve Rogers and Captain America and Alpha Flight had a hero who was obviously homosexual to anyone who know what that word meant.

    Nobody freaked out about it.

    Mike

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