The world could do with vigilantes like Jewish lesbian Batwoman

Same-sex superheroes are not new to comic books, with Marvel’s crime-fighting hero Northstar having in May 2018 proposed to his boyfriend in an X-Men comic issue.

Of course, DC Comics followed suit with their print and digital comic book version of Batwoman #17 where the openly gay heroine (aka Katherine Kane) proposes to her police detective girlfriend Maggie Sawyer.

Although we still do not know if Maggie will say yes, what we do know is that the first episode of the CW’s new Batwoman live-action series is awesome and already has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 73%.

With Gotham City in despair some three years after Batman mysteriously disappears, the show kicks off with Kate Kane (played by Ruby Rose) returning home to continue the legacy of her absent cousin, Bruce Wayne.

Ruby Rose in ‘Batwoman’. Picture: The CW

In the city, under the watch and protection of Jacob Kane and his military-grade Crows Private Security firm, villains still run rampant with the knowledge that the Batman won’t get in the way of their crime sprees. One such crime syndicate is the Alice in Wonderland Gang.

However, in targeting the security firm and kidnapping Kate’s military school sweetheart Sophie (played by Megan Tandy), the gang unwittingly forces Kate to pick up her cousin’s baton and become a dark knight vigilante.

Assisted by the tech-savvy Luke Fox, the son of Wayne Enterprises’ tech guru Lucius Fox, and her stepsister Mary, Kate soars through the dodgy streets of Gotham as Batwoman.

Admittedly, like all new series, Batwoman has been met with some criticism which, strangely enough, comes from some members of the LGBTQI+ community.

Ruby Rose as Kate Kane and Camrus Johnson as Luke Fox in ‘Batwoman’. Picture: The CW

It all started when the CW announced they’d be releasing the series about Batwoman who, in the comic books, happens to be a Jewish lesbian superhero. This was immediately approbation on social media from the gay community.

And then … when it was revealed that proudly gay actress and supermodel Ruby Rose would be playing the role of the caped crusader, the Twittersphere was on fire with (probably the same people) rage-tweeting about how she is not right for the role since she is not Jewish. Go figure!

But the series protagonist is not bothered by the angry tweets. When Buzzfeed AM to DM cohost Alex Berg asked Rose about the pushback she faced on social media, she said: “I didn’t really care because I worked really hard to get the role.

“I really wanted to do the role. It’s a dream role.

Ruby Rose in ‘Batwoman’. Picture: The CW

“I’ve said it before, but I’m not going to be on my deathbed wishing that people on the internet liked me more.”

If it’s any consolation, I am gay, my grandfather was Jewish and I loved the first episode.

In my opinion, Batwoman is a refreshingly welcome and timely series, especially given what appears to an evident rollback in LGBTQI+ rights around the world.

With horror stories published daily about homophobic beating, murders and corrective rape inflicted on lesbian women, the world could do with vigilantes like Batwoman.

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