Orange Is The New Black actor Ruby Rose will also star in The Meg, the new sci-fi movie by Jon Turteltaub. | Photo: @rubyrose/Instagram
Many DC fans and the LGBTI community rejoiced last night (7 July) at the decision to cast actor Ruby Rose in the role of the new lesbian Batwoman.
Despite this being a huge step forward in LGBTI representation onscreen, not everybody was happy.
‘Every new character has to be gay, female, black, Latino’
Carmine Sabia, a Christian journalist, took to Twitter to lament the lack of straight, white male characters in 2018.
Ruby Rose to star as the new lesbian Batwoman because you cannot have any straight, white male characters in 2018. Every new, or rebooted, character has to either be gay, female, black, Latino or more than one of those. Examples Magnum P.I., One Day At A Time, Roswell and more.
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) August 7, 2018
‘Ruby Rose to star as the new lesbian Batwoman because you cannot have any straight, white male characters in 2018,’ he wrote.
‘Every new, or rebooted, character has to either be gay, female, black, Latino or more than one of those,’ he also added.
Then he went on to provide examples, such as the CBS reboot of Magnum P.I., which cast Perdita Weeks as Juliet Higgins, originally a man portrayed by John Hillerman.
Furthermore, Sabia addressed the decision to reboot sit-com One Day At A Time. The new series will feature a Cuban-American family and a lesbian character.
Finally, the pundit mentioned Roswell, whose reboot will have a Latino lead character.
Twitter, of course, is not having it
The controversial, provocatory tweet caused a stir.
I can only think of…..all of them.
— Balok’s Decoy (@balokdecoy) August 7, 2018
‘Good luck finding a superhero movie with [check notes] straight white male characters,’ one user wrote ironically.
‘I can only think of… all of them,’ another replied.
Someone even provided Stabia with a (long) list of all current white male superheroes.
What are we gonna do?! We’ve only got
Batman
Superman
Spider-Man
Deadpool
Ant Man
Captain America,
Thor
The Hulk
Star Lord
White Wolf
Dr. Strange
Iron Man
Hawkeye
Wolverine
Cyclops
Professor X
And
QuicksilverLeft!
Ohhh Noooooos!!!!
— The Waco Kid (@soopervillain) August 7, 2018
Another user pointed out how some of the shows he mentioned originally had Latino characters.
Latina not an illegal immigrant.
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) August 7, 2018
‘I love how you use Roswell as if Liz wasn’t Latina in the Roswell High Book series the original show was based on,’ they wrote.
Sabia replied dryly: ‘Latina not an illegal immigrant.’
Sabia is a Trump supporter and an NRA member
According to his Twitter bio, Sabia is a ‘Christian conservative journalist and pundit’ and a National Rifle Association (NRA) member from New Jersey. He’s also a ‘Yankee fan’.
Twitter users immediately criticized his political views.
When being a Yankees fan is the least worst thing about you…I think that says enough.
— 🇮🇳Salim🇺🇸 (@JordanDynasty) August 7, 2018
‘When being a Yankees fan is the least worst thing about you… I think that says enough,’ one user wrote.
Hey I looked through your feed but couldn’t find any examples of you being mad about the way this character was rebooted as a white dude pic.twitter.com/utpwI5uRdu
— RABY (@JoshRaby) August 7, 2018
‘Hey I looked through your feed but couldn’t find any examples of you being mad about the way this character was rebooted as a white dude,’ another tweeted, posting a picture of Jesus.
Sabia defended himself in another tweet.
Read the comments to this. These twits either believe or are pretending to believe that I said Batwoman should be a male. I mentioned other shows I mentioned the trend. They are either obtuse or pretending to be.
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) August 7, 2018
‘Read the comment to this. These twits either believe or are pretending to believe that I said Batwoman should be a male,’ he said.
‘I mentioned other shows I mentioned the trend,’ he explained.
The new Batwoman is a lesbian of Jewish descent
Rose is an Australian actor, DJ, and model. She became popular for her portrayal of Stella in Orange Is The New Black.
The Aussie will wear Batwoman’s costume in the CW Arrowverse Universe. The secret identity of Kate Kane, Batwoman will be the first openly lesbian superhero on TV. The fact Ruby Rose, who came out as a lesbian at the age of 12, will portray the iconic character just adds to the awesomeness.
Batwoman will be introduced in a December crossover episode with its other DC Comics shows, including Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl.
Read more from Gay Star News:
Marvel producer on LGBTI characters in future films: ‘Stay tuned’
Less than 1% of characters in Hollywood movies last year were LGBT
New Doctor Who wows Comic Con crowd with gender fluid comments