Is she a lesbian? CW wanted the Batwoman licence so they could brag about having a lesbian superhero show. Any lesbian will do, as long as she is one...well, as long as she is one that they made-up because apparently Sophie and Julia who were already established on the show weren't 'good enough'.
I think Sophie might be bi, not sure about Julia - but they both exist in the comics, just like Luke who they could have made Batwing, or Mary/Bette who they could have made Flamebird. They had sooo many better options for a replacement lead. And yes, Tiffany would also have made more sense than 'Ryan'.
Oh well, unless that news I read a while back about the way these shows will have to be filmed now has changed, they won't be much good anyway, and that includes the rest of the Arrowverse sadly. It makes sense of course, we are in a pandemic, but a superhero show with no close combat or intimate scenes seems redundant IMO. Better off going with animation, in which case they wouldn't 'need' to replace Kate anyway.