Longtime DC Comics superhero icon Tim Drake, better known as Batman's sidekick, Robin, has been revealed to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Taking place in Batman: Urban Legends #6, the story follows Drake fighting some criminals on the streets of Gotham City alongside a young man named Bernard. During this fight, Bernard, who does not know Drake is Robin, confides to the hero that Drake had "held me realize my true self. Who I am," and said "I wish we could have finished our date," implying that he realized his sexuality.
The chapter continues with some soul-searching moments for Drake, who describes it in an internal monologue as a "lightbulb moment," before he goes to Bernard's home not dressed as Robin and accepts the offer of a date.
Created by Jewish comic writer Marv Wolfman in the 1980s, Drake is the third hero to wear the mantle of Batman's sidekick, Robin, following in the footsteps of Dick Greyson and Jason Todd. Drake has, until this point, ostensibly been seen within the DC Comics universe as heterosexual, notably having a long on-again-off-again relationship with fellow superhero Stephanie Brown.
It should be noted that despite a misconception among Batman fans, Drake has not been confirmed as bisexual. Rather, as comic writer Meghan Fitzmartin told the news site Polygon, "I wanted to pay tribute to the fact that sexuality is a journey ... However, Tim is still figuring himself out."
Many fans have rejoiced at this revelation of Drake's sexuality. However, he would not be the first instance of queerness to be found in the Batman comics.
Though their relationship was in no way sexual, many had, for both positive and negative connotations, described Batman and Robin as gay. This was made especially evident in the 1940s when, in his controversial 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham had specifically pointed to Batman and Robin as being gay, though this was entirely untrue within the context of the story.
However, DC Comics was so worried that Batman was seen as being gay that in 1956, they created an entirely new character, Batwoman, to serve as a love interest, though she was retroactively removed from continuity in the 1980s.
In 2006, the character was reintroduced, this time as Kate Kane, Batman's maternal cousin who is both openly lesbian and is Jewish. Her popularity has skyrocketed in the years since, starring in many prominent titles and even getting her own TV series in the Arrowverse, the third season of which is set to premiere in October 2021.