Batman’s Robin comes out as bisexual

Batman’s crime-fighting partner, Robin has tentatively come out as bisexual after accepting a date with another man.

In a new issue of the anthology series Batman: Urban Legends, Tim Drake – who is the third character to assume the title of Robin – finds himself questioning his identity in the wake of breaking up with his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie.

It all comes to a head when he reconnects with his gay school friend, Bernard, who is then kidnapped by the villain, the Chaos Monster.

Tim saves him and, after the rescue, Bernard asks: “Tim Drake, do you want to go on a date with me?” He replies with a beaming smile: “Yeah. Yeah, I think I want that.”

Writer Meghan Fitzmartin told Polygon that she wanted the storyline “to pay tribute to the fact that sexuality is a journey.”

She said: “To be clear, his feelings for Stephanie have been/are 100% real, as are his feelings for Bernard. However, Tim is still figuring himself out. I don’t think he has the language for it all… yet.”

Fitzmartin also tweeted: “My goal in writing has been and will always be to show just how much God loves you. You are so incredibly loved and important and seen.”

In an official DC Comics blog post, Alex Jaffe confirmed that “Tim Drake dates boys.” He wrote: “If you’re a member of DC’s significant queer community, then you already understand why this is a big deal. In fact, you’ve probably been waiting for a moment like this for a very long time.”

Jaffe added that, “this isn’t the end of Tim Drake’s self-discovery. We’ve only just reached the beginning. And you can be sure that in Batman: Urban Legends #10, we’ll all be there to follow this personal journey wherever it goes.”

LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD welcomed the exploration of Tim Drake’s sexuality. “Bi+ people make up the majority of the LGBTQ community, but continue to be underrepresented in media, especially bi+ men,” Megan Townsend, GLAAD’s director of entertainment research and analysis, told NBC News.

“We look forward to seeing Tim Drake’s story be explored further in new DC comics, and hope this wave of growing LGBTQ visibility continues within the world of major label comics.”

Tim Drake is the second high profile Batman character to come out as queer. In 2006, wealthy heiress Kathy Kane – also known as Batwoman – was recreated as a lesbian.