Georgia School District Canceled an Author’s Talks After He Said ‘Gay’

An elementary school principal in Forsyth County emailed parents to apologize last week after Marc Tyler Nobleman used the word in a presentation about the origins of Batman.



Marc Tyler Nobleman in 2017. His book “Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman” champions the role the comic book writer Bill Finger played in the creation of the superhero. Credit Robamcnamy

By Anushka Patil
Aug. 29, 2023

The principal of a Georgia elementary school apologized to parents last week after a guest author who was discussing his research into a co-creator of Batman told a group of fifth graders that the co-creator’s son was gay.

The author, Marc Tyler Nobleman, said the principals of two other elementary schools in the district where he was speaking had asked him to stick to “appropriate” material and omit that detail of his research. When he refused, his remaining presentations were canceled.

Mr. Nobleman is the author of “Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman,” a biography that champions the role the comic book writer Bill Finger played in the creation of the superhero, for which the cartoonist Bob Kane long received sole credit.

Mr. Nobleman was invited to the Forsyth County school district north of Atlanta last week to tell students how his research had helped reveal and win acknowledgment for Mr. Finger’s contributions to the development of Batman, which included the character’s instantly recognizable pointy-eared cowl and names like “Bruce Wayne” and “Gotham City.”

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