Marvel Comics and Disney Make a 12-Year-Old Transgender Child a ‘Superhero’ (VIDEO)
Marvel Comics and the Disney Plus streaming service are promoting a 12-year-old transgender child as a superhero, complete with a comic book and TV special.
The child, identified only as “Rebekah,” was born male but now identifies as transgender and dresses as a female.
Rebekah is being recognized as part of Marvel’s Hero Project, which tells the stories of what Marvel Comics calls “young, real life heroes” whose efforts seek to change the world.
Each child included in the Hero Project is featured in an episode of the “Hero Project” series on the Disney+ streaming service. They are also immortalized as a superhero in an online Marvel comic book (which can be seen by clicking here).
Among the children featured in the project are Jordan, who is working to improve prosthetics for kids with limb disabilities, and Elijah, who is inspiring his community to end child abuse.
Rebekah, however, is being recognized for her activism on behalf of the transgender community. She partnered with LGBT groups like Garden State Equality and gave speeches at rallies, which are shown in the Disney+ docuseries. Clips from the episode are included below.
Rebekah also lobbied the New Jersey legislature, and helped pass Assembly Bill 1335, which mandated LGBTQ history curriculum in public schools. The lessons will be introduced into classrooms next year.
The episode also goes out of its way to highlight the fact that Rebekah’s family is Christian, and her father is a pastor. The denomination is not mentioned, although they seem affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
According to the episode, Rebekah stated her belief that she was trans at the age of 8, and her parents encouraged the behavior. They allowed her to dress as a girl and grow her hair out. Although it is not said in the episode, her parents appear to imply that she may have undergone a procedure as part of her transition.
In an interview with The Advocate (an LGBTQ website) about being named a “Marvel hero” with their own comic book, Rebekah said “It’s really important to have a transgender kid in one of these companies because representation is really helpful for kids who are going through their transition to know that they are not alone and that there are people fighting for them.”
When asked what she thought her power may be as a Marvel hero, she said “Acceptance, because I accept everyone for their differences and I can empower and tell other people … that everyone is the same and there’s nothing wrong with LGBTQ kids.”
Rebekah also claims her Christian faith is an important part of her LGBT activism. “Faith guides me in my activism…There’s a lot of [misconceptions] that being LGBTQ, you cannot be Christian or you can’t be loved by God. But in truth, God made you who you are and God does not make mistakes. So you’re meant to be yourself.”
The Advocate article also makes a point of attacking Christians who follow the Biblical teaching that homosexuality is a sin. When asked how some Christians use their faith to spread “hate,” Rebekah said “The Bible…says that we should love one another. And by using the Bible as a weapon, it’s abusing the power of these words.”
In Rebekah’s Marvel comic, she is seen fighting for LGBTQ acceptance in schools.
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