The Newest Issue of 'Batgirl' Features Major Comics' First Transgender Wedding

Impact

Continuing the trend of comics being more progressive than the movies based on them, the Batgirl comic series is making history in Wednesday's new issue. Batgirl #45 features the wedding of Batgirl Barbara Gordon's best friend, Alysia Yeoh — a transgender woman.

As noted by MTV News, this is the first wedding featuring a trans character in any major comic. Just two years ago, DC Comics wouldn't even permit a marriage between two women, much less such a wedding where one of the characters is trans. Luckily, things have changed since then; Wonder Woman even acted as the officiant for a lesbian wedding in an August issue.

DC Comics

Alysia came out to Barbara in a 2013 issue. Her wedding to activist wife Jo was a longtime goal for writers Brenden Fletcher and Cameron Stewart, who took over creative control of the publication in 2014. 

"This was something we talked about when we took the book over and we didn't know if we were ever going to get a chance to play it out, because we had so much heavy lifting to do in our first arc that there wasn't room to play up this plot," Fletcher told MTV News. "And we didn't know that we were going to be successful at all and get to do any more than six issues."

The wedding itself features Alysia in a dress designed by artist Babs Tarr, with her new spouse in a suit. "She kind of dresses older, like a really Madewell kind of flavor," Tarr told MTV News, referencing the clothing brand. "So I kind of wanted to give her something really traditional and beautiful and elegant."

DC Comics

Alysia and Jo will be absent from the next few issues for their honeymoon. There's a twist coming in Batgirl #50 that MTV News reports will involve Alysia. Perhaps, as speculation states, she'll be becoming a hero herself? If so, she'll be creating new history — par for the course for this character.