By Stewart Tongue

YNOT – The times they are a changing — at least with regard to social equality regardless of sexual orientation or expressed gender. The latest seismic shift on the social Richter Scale comes by way of venerable DC Comics, which has outed one of its own recurring characters as transgendered.

Alysia Yeoh appears for the first time in Batgirl #19, on sale now in print and digital formats. Yeoh reveals herself as a transwoman during a conversation with her roommate, Batgirl’s alter-ego Barbara Jordan. According to Batgirl writer Gail Simone, Yeoh is bisexual and will play a role in future stories.

Yeoh is hardly the first graphic novel character whose sexuality defies the standard. Gay and lesbian heroes like Batwoman, Northstar (one of the X-Men) and Green Lantern Alan Scott are openly gay. However, Yeoh is believed to be the first transgendered character to grace the pages of graphic novels. Seventy-nine-year-old DC Comics recently announced it intends to reflect the diversity of its audience by expanding the sexual diversity of its character universe, which encompasses titans of the traditional superhero pantheon including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. Yeoh’s introduction is only one step in that direction, the company indicated.

The move has larger implications than mere shock value, according to DC. By portraying a diverse cast, the company hopes to open a safe environment where readers wrestling with their own sexuality may explore self-awareness without the stigmatization that has plagued LGBT teens for generations.

Historically, sexual orientation and gender issues in mainstream comics have been slow to catch up with movies and other forms of literature, thanks to the infamous Comics Code Authority. Formed by the Comics Magazine Association of America as a way to self-regulate content and avoid government regulation, the code prohibited the depiction of anything other than chaste depictions of heterosexual attraction on the grounds that anything outside “the norm” was unsuitable for children.