Christian Cooper

#ChristianCooper: Cooper is an American science writer and editor, as well as a comics writer and editor based in #NewYorkCity. He has written many stories and edited others for #MarvelComics and is the comic book company’s first openly gay writer and editor. He also was instrumental in bringing about the first gay male character on #StarTrek comic series #StarfleetAcademy, #YoshiMishima. He also created the first openly lesbian Marvel character with #VictoriaMontes and worked on the issue of #AlphaFlight, in which the superhero #Northstar came out as gay. On top of all his achievements, he also served as president of the #HarvardOrnithologicalClub and currently sits on the board for #NYCAudubon. Despite all these achievements, he became more well known last year when a white woman called the police on him as he was bird-watching in #CentralPark. After asking her kindly to put her dog on a leash (which is the law), she claimed white victimhood and said she would call the police on Cooper, telling them that he, a black man, was threatening her and her dog. Cooper’s video of this went viral and drew outrage from all sides of the political spectrum, who were happy to see that the white woman was not only shamed but lost her job. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he is working to put a law on the books that will make it a crime to make a false claim on 911. Charges against this woman were eventually dropped, and Cooper stated, “Bringing her more misery just seems like piling on.” He added later in a Washington Post op-ed, “I think it’s a mistake to focus on this one individual. The important thing the incident highlights is the long-standing, deep-seated racial bias against us Black and Brown folk that permeates the United States.” This incident led to the creation of #BlackBirdersWeek, and served as the basis for Cooper’s online comic book about racism entitled “It’s a Bird.” #PrideMonth #LGBTQIA #LGBTQIAPride #Pride #LegendsOfPride #YouCannotEraseUs