By Rebecca Johnson // LGBTQ+ // EEW Magazine Online

October 2021 marked a landmark moment in comic book history: It was announced that Jonathan Kent, the son of Clark Kent – aka Superman – and Lois Lane would be coming out as bisexual on the pages of DC Comics.

The news dropped on National Coming Out Day.

Jon Kent, known as “the Superman of Earth,” would begin a romantic relationship with reporter Jay Nakamura—a decision comic book publishers made to expand the scope of LGBTQ representation within their pages.

As news blew up online, a controversial tweet from a Christian professor, Sophia Nelson, blew up her career.

Nelson, the first Black female Scholar in Residence, was ousted from her position at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA after posting this regarding DC Comics featuring a bisexual character: "I don't get why this is necessary. I don't! What if Christian parents of children reading comic books don't want their kids exposed to bi-sexual characters? This is being pushed on kids."

The 55-year-old on-air commentator for CNN sparked outrage, protests, and what she calls abuse.

“I ultimately lost my position over asking a question about parents’ rights,” said Nelson in an interview with CBN News, a conservative Christian media network founded by Pat Robertson.

Nelson said that she apologized to students, telling CBN, “I am a good professor. I love my students; I have all kind of students. And I first apologized in the sense that—not that I think what I said was wrong but—if I hurt kids, I want to talk about it.”

In a July 22 tweet, she said, “The level of intolerance for divergent views in America is dangerous. It's particularly chilling on the speech of Christian academics and professors”—a topic she further explored in her CBN interview.

“It was horrible that in academia where we are supposed to be the textbook definition of academic freedom, open dialogue, discussion and debate, if we can’t talk about this on a college campus—a public university, not a private one, not a religious one, but a public university,” said Nelson, adding, “It was ugly. It was hurtful” and caused “a lot of emotional distress.”

Nevertheless, Nelson refuses to back down.

In March 2022, she filed a series of federal and state agency administrative complaints against Christopher Newport University for both religious and racial discrimination as well as violations of her First Amendment right to free expression and free speech.

The university’s media affairs department said in a brief statement, “Ms. Nelson’s allegations of discrimination and retaliation are without merit,” and the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) “dismissed her charges.”

“There will be legal repercussions here,” maintains Nelson. “We’ve been preparing for this for a while because I’ve made the decision personally, as a Christian, that I’m going to put a stake in the ground on this one. I’m not going to let this go unaddressed. I’m not going to let the people that did this get away with it because I never want another Christian professor anywhere in the Commonwealth or otherwise to be abused like this because they ask a civil, respectful question and engage dialogue – which is what we’re supposed to do in the public square.”

The prominent scholar, despite characterizations by opponents, has denied being “anti-gay” or “homophobic,” saying she finds “those things wrong,” yet “we must have free dialogue about religion and LGBTQ+ rights.”

Watch her full interview below.