Woman and girls were thrilled to see themselves reflected in a superhero when “Wonder Woman” premiered this summer.
Now an LGBTQ activist wants the same.
A Change.org petition has been launched to make Diana bisexual in the film’s 2019 sequel.
Gianna Collier-Pitts, who was a 2017 campus ambassador for GLAAD at New York University, launched a Change.org petition to make Diana bisexual in the film’s 2019 sequel.
In it, Collier-Pitts writes that “representation is power.”
“Some of you may be thinking that this specificity doesn’t make a difference,” she wrote. “But for people like me who rarely see themselves reflected in media, believe me. It does.”
Last year, Greg Rucka, a “Wonder Woman” comic writer confirmed that Diana was bisexual. The admission wasn’t much of a surprise, however, considering that the character’s origin story takes place on the female-only island of Themyscira. Rucka told Comicosity:
“It’s supposed to be paradise. You’re supposed to be able to live happily. You’re supposed to be able — in a context where one can live happily, and part of what an individual needs for that happiness is to have a partner — to have a fulfilling, romantic and sexual relationship. And the only options are women.”
He continued: “Now, are we saying Diana has been in love and had relationships with other women? The answer is obviously yes.”
Collier-Pitts sites Rucka’s comments in her petition and asks: “Why is it so hard to translate this for the silver screen?”
She describes the struggle of coming to terms with her own sexuality when there was a lack of positive representation of in pop culture. “We are oversexualized and underrepresented,” she wrote. “We are called greedy, dishonest, and confused.”
She added: “Making Wonder Woman canonically bisexual on the big screen would make her the first openly LGBTQ superhero of any gender from either DC or Marvel’s cinematic universes, and would solidify her place as a true role model for women of all ages and identities.”