Kate Kane is one of the most well-known superheroes to be revealed explicitly that she was a lesbian from the get-go at the start of the new run of Batwoman comics. And that? That’s amazing. Considering Batwoman’s character was introduced (under Kathy Kane) to dispel notions of Batman’s homosexuality with Robin, and now she’s introduced as queer from the get-go, and is shown to be in relationships? That’s some pretty good representation if I say so myself. But, like with broad representation, one color on the rainbow isn’t enough to make it one.

Katherine “Kate” Kane was born to be tough, with two military parents in the intelligence service. A terrorist attack would eventually kill her mother and sister, leaving only her father and herself alive.

Wanting some semblance of peace and aiming to please her father, Kate joined the military where she would soon form her first romantic relationship with fellow cadet Captain Sophie Moore. Eventually, their relationship would be found out, and she was dishonorably discharged.

Kate’s father eventually married a wealthy weapons heiress named Catherine Hamilton, became a party girl and a probable victim to alcoholism, and after breaking up with a future girlfriend named Renee Montoya, would be saved by Batman from a mugging. Inspired by him, Kate decided to copy the caped vigilante by becoming one herself and, like Bruce Wayne, used her wealth and familial connections to further her crime fighting career.