(Photo: Slash Film)

For the first time in television history, a superhero was revealed as gay. The title character of the CW’s series Batwoman, shared her sexual orientation last Sunday in a midseason premiere episode called “How Queer Everything Is Today!”

In the episode, Kat Kane, who is Bruce Wayne’s cousin and doubles as Batwoman while he is mysteriously away, is faced with a difficult decision to expose her sexual identity to a hurting teenager even if it might mean thwarting her secret identity, according to Deadline. Entertainment Weekly shared that the teenager’s parents rebuffed the girl’s sexuality, and Batwoman felt compelled to comfort her with the reveal. She realized “what it would mean to others to have an out and proud superhero.”

Ultimately, her sexual identity as a lesbian is revealed to all of Gotham in a fictional magazine article in CatComagazine by Kara Danvers, who is actually Supergirl.

The episode was written by showrunner Caroline Dries, who wanted to write on the topic ever since the beginning of the show.

“For me, it was so important for this character to stand in her truth,” Dries said. “The girl underneath the costume is so comfortable with who she is and so comfortable with being truthful, and she never really has been in the closet … So I thought it was a cool character moment for Batwoman to say, ‘Not only do I represent hope for the city, but I represent hope for a lot of people out there who are struggling with their whatever.’ In this case it’s being accepted for sexual orientation, but I think it’s a metaphor for bigger things [like for] people who just feel marginalized or uncomfortable in their skin. It kind of just made her a bigger hero.”

Dries also wanted to record Gotham’s reaction.

“So when you turn on the Bat-Signal now it’s sort of like you are making a statement of acceptance and the [Gotham City Police Department] who are in charge of the Bat-Signal might not be 100 percent comfortable with that,” she said.

Mikaela Mathews | ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor | Wednesday, January 22, 2020