Last week, the CW announced that they had cast Ruby Rose as Batwoman for an upcoming Arrowverse crossover special. Batwoman, also known as Kate Kane, is an out Jewish lesbian who is a highly trained street fighter and passionate about social justice. Batwoman will follow in the footsteps of character Anissa Pierce on Black Lightning as one of the first lesbian superheroes on TV. Just a few days later, however, Rose will join multiple other stars who were chased off of social media by internet trolls.

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While stars like Leslie Jones and Kelly Marie Tran were harassed by conservative Ghostbusters and Star Wars fans in racist and misogynistic attacks, Rose has been targeted by the left. Many fans of Batwoman took to Twitter to express their anger that a Jewish lesbian actress was not casted as Kate Kane. These fans stated that Ruby Rose is not Jewish, but also claimed that she is not a lesbian either. While it is valid to worry that a character’s Judaism will be erased on screen — just look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s interpretation of Scarlet Witch — Rose does, in fact, identify as a lesbian.

Before deleting her account, Rose posted a series of tweets in regards to her harassment. She wrote, “Where on Earth did ‘Ruby is not a lesbian therefore she can’t be Batwoman’ come from – has to be the funniest most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read. I came out at 12? And have for the past 5 years had to deal with ‘she’s too gay’ how do y’all flip it like that? I didn’t change. I wish we would all support each other and our journeys.” The actress then stated that she was taking a break from Twitter to focus on other projects and added, “If you need me, I’ll be on my Bat Phone.”

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Ruby Rose started her entertainment career in her native Australia and shot to fame when she appeared on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black. She starred in Pitch Perfect 3 last year and appears alongside Jason Statham in his new film, The Meg, which premiered last week. Prior to the harassment, Rose announced her excitement over her new role on Instagram, stating that it was a “childhood dream.” She wrote, “This is something I would have died to have seen on TV when I was a young member of the LGBT community who never felt represented on tv.”

 

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