Representation matters because people matter. In the same way that movies and television, comics can be the perfect tool to showcase LGBTQ+ examples in mainstream media and end the unnecessary hate against the community. Due to this tasks’ relevance, it shouldn’t be taken lightly. And fortunately, it isn’t.
Since DC has always been ahead of its time, the company has been a bastion for LGBTQ+ representation since the 90s. Whether it’s in the canon or in Elseworlds, several DC queer characters serve as positive examples for the generation to come and help many find themselves as well as defeat the social prejudice.
10 The Authority Gave The Fans A Gay Married Couple & Two Bisexual Friends
The Authority is a team of rogue superheroes active since 1990. Their comics included sexual diversity before it was normalized with Apollo and Midnighter. These two characters, who are obviously based on Superman and Batman, have shared a romantic relationship for almost two decades. They even had a gay wedding before this kind of ceremony was socially accepted.
In addition to them, the comics feature Jenny Quantum and Swift the Winged Huntress. Both women are openly bisexual and have relationships with other women. While comics have many LGBTQ+ characters now, The Authority deserves recognition for featuring them before it was the norm.
9 The Outsiders Features A Healthy Lesbian Relationship
As their name state, The Outsiders are a superhero team whose members do not follow conventional superhero rules. Granted, this doesn’t directly refer to their sexual orientations, but to their lack of concern for public appearance instead. However, Judd Winick took advantage of their status as social outcasts and introduced two LGBT characters to the team: Grace Choi, a bisexual woman, and Anissa “Thunder” Pierce, Black Lightning’s lesbian daughter.
Both women shared a romantic relationship during their time as team members and provided a healthy portrayal of a sapphic relationship in media. Their love story even got to be on TV in the Arrowverse series Black Lightning with Chantal Thuy as Grace and Nafessa Williams as Anissa.
8 Constantine’s Bisexuality Is A Main Topic In Constantine the Hellblazer
Hellblazer‘s John Constantine was first established as a bisexual man in 1992, but his earliest stories only showed him dating women. It wasn’t until 2002 that Brian Azzarello showed him in an explicit scene with another man. After this, Constantine’s sexuality became one of his main personality traits, especially in Constantine the Hellblazer, a comic in which he dates both women and men.
Zatanna, Nick Necro, King Shark, and several other characters can be counted among Constantine lovers. Unfortunately, none of his relationships have lasted, given his attitude and his complicated anti-hero status. Regardless of this, he’s a great example of bisexual representation even before it was common, which gives DC extra points when considering the constant bisexual erasure in media.
7 The Doom Patrol Has Always Been Pro Sexual & Gender Dissidence
Also known as the World’s Strangest Heroes, the Doom Patrol is a superhero team full of unconventional characters. For some of its members, their sexuality and gender expression are just as outside the norm as their powers. Especially after Grant Morrison — non-binary himself — became the comics’ creative leader.
Besides Danny The Street as a genderqueer character who existed before the genderqueer term was widely known, the Doom Patrol comics feature Rebis, a character who’s male and female at the same time. In addition, there is Coagula, the first transgender hero in DC comics, created by Rachel Pollack, a transgender writer herself.
6 DC Pride Includes Nia Nal’s Inspiring Trans Story
Although Nia Nal is not an original DC character from the comics, her popularity among the crowd took her from the Arrowverse series’ Supergirl to one of the DC Pride anthology stories. With this comic, — a creation of trans actress Nicole Maines who plays Nia’s role in the TV show — DC tries to shed some light on the issues faced by the trans community.
In addition to Nia’s story, DC Pride includes several LGBTQ+ fan favorites such as Harley Quinn, Batwoman, Renee Montoya, Alan Scott, Aqualad, and more. This anthology’s main objective is for DC to create positive queer representation in comics and no one can deny they are succeeding.
5 Poison Ivy & Harley Quinn Friends-To-Lovers Relationship Is Goals
Originally the Joker’s sidekick, Harley Quinn spent several years in a toxic relationship with the Clown Prince of Crime until Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti changed her character for the New 52 Harley Quinn series. Harley declared her independence from the Batman villain in this new DC era and started a non-monogamous relationship with her friend and partner in crime, Poison Ivy.
It has been almost 10 years since Harlivy — as the fandom calls them — got together, but their popularity as a couple increased in 2020 after the Harley Quinn series’ second season premiered. Now that the show’s third season has been confirmed, fans can rest assured that they will get much more content from this sapphic couple.
4 Wonder Woman: Earth One Presents Wonder Woman & The Other Amazons As Sapphic
As a person born and raised on an island without men, Diana is no stranger to love between women. Although Steve Trevor is her main love interest, the Princess of Themyscira is canonically bisexual, and many other Amazons share her love for other women.
Wonder Woman: Earth One by Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette depicts the love between women as a common practice in Themyscira. Therefore, it approaches lesbianism and bisexuality as the cultural norm. This isn’t the first Wonder Woman comic to consider female love interests for Diana. In Wonder Woman: Year One, the hero shares a special relationship with Kaisa, one of her fellow Amazons.
3 Tim Drake’s Confirmed His Bisexuality In Batman: Urban Legends
One of DC’s newest queer superheroes is Tim Drake, who has been fighting alongside Batman since 1989, adopting several monikers such as Drake, Red Robin, and Robin. After Batman: Urban Legends #6, Tim gained some attention after accepting to go on a date with his male friend Bernard Dowd, revealing his bisexuality to the world.
While many were uncomfortable with the idea of a “gay Robin,” the truth is that having such a major DC character as a positive bisexual icon sends a positive message to the LGBTQ+ community about the way society is finally changing to embrace different sexual orientations.
2 Superman: Son of Kal-El Features A New Bisexual Superman
Besides Tim Drake, 2021 blessed queer comic fans with Jonathan Kent’s coming-out story in Superman: Son of Kal-El. The new series confirmed that Jon Kent, Clark and Lois’ son, is a bisexual man who has a romantic relationship with Jay Nakamura, a Gamorran alien living in Metropolis.
Unfortunately for the fans, Jay leaves Earth in Superman: Son of Kal-El #5, so his relationship with Jon isn’t further explored. However, given that Superman has always been a role model for the youth, his bisexuality sends a promising message to new generations fighting for the right to love whoever they want. Hopefully, DC continuity won’t forget about Jon’s sexual orientation soon.
1 DC Comics Bombshells & Bombshells: United Reimagined Several Superheroes As LGBTQ+ Characters
Baptized as DC’s Queerest Elseworld yet, DC Comics Bombshells, by Marguerite Bennett, retro-engineers many DC superheroes in a World War II universe, basing their aesthetic on a successful line of DC Collectible figurines released in 2013. In these two female-centered stories, iconic characters such as Wonder Woman, Zatanna, Hawkgirl, and Supergirl get a re-design, a new origin story, and new character traits. For example, many of them fall in the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
Wonder Woman has a close relationship with Mera in what’s an obvious wink to Flashpoint. Supergirl — who’s not American, but Russian — falls for Lois Lane. Batwoman, Maggie Sawyer, and Reneé Montoya — all canonically lesbians — share a love triangle. These are only a few examples of the pairings that make the DC Comics Bombshells Universe a sapphic fantasy against homophobia.
About The Author
