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A major character on ‘Arrow’ just came out and Twitter is going crazy

CW, arrow, gay superhero, gay character, William

In the latest episode of the CW superhero drama series Arrow, an important character just came out as gay, and gay fans are delighted.

Spoiler Alert: Now in its seventh season, the show revealed that the main character’s son, William, has an ex-boyfriend, establishing his gayness (or possible bisexuality).

Whether you’re not watching the show or not, this reveal is a little complicated. You see, a younger version of William has been on the show since 2015, but in Season 7, Arrow introduced an older version of William who exists sometime in the future.

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CW, arrow, gay superhero, gay character, William
William, the newly gay character on CW’s ‘Arrow’

In the most recent episode, William tells Roy Harper (a super heroic vigilante played by gay actor Colton Haynes) that William’s father, Oliver, was largely absent during his childhood. He jokes, “And my ex-boyfriend wonders why I have commitment issues.”

Gay Twitter was delighted by the reveal:

This isn’t the first LGBTQ character to appear on Arrow. The show has also featured the married gay superhero Mr. Terrific; two bisexual characters, White Canary and Nyssa al Ghul; and, in a crossover TV event, openly gay actor Russell Tovey played a gay Nazi-fighting superhero called The Ray.

In real life, Stephen Amell, the actor who plays Arrow‘s central character, Oliver Queen (the titular Green Arrow), has shown his support of the LGBTQ community by shutting down homophobic trolls who criticized his pictures of himself at the 2017 Vancouver Pride celebration.

Via Facebook, Amell responded, “If I’m in Vancouver next year I won’t just go back, I’ll walk in the parade,” he wrote. “So for everyone in their negative pants: Go be on the wrong side of history on somebody else’s Facebook page.”

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