#coagula

Justice League: Dream Girls - A DC Pride Event #3

Trans woman and lesbian, debuted and confirmed queer on August 12th, 1993, in Doom Patrol Vol 2 #70

Kate Godwin, also known as Coagula, is one of the earliest queer comic characters and the first trans superhero. She worked as a computer programmer and prostitute, with her second job leading to her gaining her powers after sleeping with Rebis. She has the ability to change solids to liquids and liquids to solids via touch.

After gaining her abilities, Kate had applied to join the Justice League, but was rejected. She hadn’t planned on operating as a hero, but she intervened after a villain attack. This caught the attention of some Doom Patrol members, and she was offered a place on the team. She bonded with Cliff Steele, AKA Robot Man, over shared body dysphoria. She was also close to Dorothy Spinner. Unfortunately, like many Doom Patrol members, Kate died. However, also like many Doom Patrol members, she was brought back to life.

Kate Godwin was created by Rachel Pollack, a trans lesbian author, as a response to trans characters at the time being poorly written. She wrote several other significant queer characters, and has talked about how Doom Patrol has always had themes of body issues. The name Kate Godwin comes from two trans women: the activist Kate Bernstein and Rachel Pollack’s friend, Chelsea Goodwin. Many aspects of Kate Godwin’s story came directly from trans experiences. Programmed and prostitution were very common careers for trans women in the 90s