Star Trek is not just one of the longest - running sci - fi franchise ever , it is also the most hopeful . The Federation represent the pinnacle of humanity : the idea that we can and will make a better life for each other . Yet , despite Trek ’s message of a good future for all , LGBTQ+ fictitious character are few and far between , and this exclusion has result to more than a few clashes between Star Trek creators and fans in the past times . As Star Trek : Discoveryheads into its next chapter , let ’s look back at the franchise ’s story of LGBTQ+ representation . Does Discovery carry through the promise of a more proportionate , reformist time to come ? Or does it , too , hang fair game to the pitfalls that have plague Star Trek ’s past tense ?
Not in front of the Klingons
For decades , homophile people have been drawn to Star Trek , and the show have gained cult position within the gay community . Why ? To answer that motion , we require to slingshot around the Lord’s Day and clip - warp back to The Original Series , a show with so muchsparklingchemistrybetween its male person lead that Kirk and Spock became the OG ship , launching a thousand fan fiction — which , back in the ‘ 60 , were painstakinglytyped out on typewritersand handed around at convention .
Star Trek Lord Gene Roddenberry did not vocally oppose the fans render Kirk and Spock as lover . Always a jockstrap of fan works , Roddenberry attend many of the first conventions , andencouraged his writers to read fanzines(Spockanalia , in particular)—and although these did n’t include “ thrash ” fanfiction , he was n’t unaware of this fan response to the show .
Wheninterviewed in 1979for the book Shatner : Where No Man , Roddenberry was asked what he thought of the fan belief that Kirk and Spock were in love . His response was heedful : “ Yes , there ’s certainly honey overtone . Deep dear . The only difference being , we never suggested in the serial publication [ that there was any ] physical passion between the two . But we certainly had the feeling that the affection was sufficient for that , if that were the fussy style of the 23rd 100 . ”
Some typically innuendo-laden dialogue.Image: (Paramount)
That was certainly the pillow slip for Wilson Cruz , who play Dr. Hugh Culber , Discovery ’s doctor and husband of Chief Engineer Paul Stamets . Speaking to me on the eve of Discovery ’s season two premiere , Cruz explained that Star Trek was very important to him as a tyke . “ I was one of those kids who demand to be reassure of a bright future , and Star Trek did that for me . It help me imagine a future where I could love whoever I wanted , and inspired me to do whatever I needed to do to get us closer to that . ”
This subject matter , along with a relatively broad background of theatrical performance in term of backwash and grammatical gender , has long appealed to the queer community of interests . We watch Star Trek because it give us the rare opportunity to see a variant of the hereafter where we also have a place among the genius . Or at least , it does in theory .
Unfortunately , there is a divide between what the Federation claims to be , and what it actually is . Star Trek ’s writers want us to believe that the Federation is a utopian society , wherein the social trouble of the past times have been work out . And yet , nothing is ever that simple , and fiction ca n’t help but be a product of its meter . The Federation might be beyond sexism , racism , and homophobia , but its creators surely aren’t — which became more patent as the years wore on , and fans started to demand canon homosexual representation .
As an ex-Borg drone, Seven didn’t understand social conventions — so why was she automatically heterosexual?Image: CBS
Infinite diversity…except for the gays
Trek ’s vision of a utopian time to come was perhaps strong in The Next Generation , as the crew of the initiative - D cross the galaxy , clear fight with diplomacy and staying true to the Federation ’s value ( evenveganism ) . With this new era of possibilities get along the musical theme that Star Trek could in reality feature a gay persona . This was suggested to Gene Roddenberryduring a Boston lover conventionin 1987 , and he wassail to usher in a cheery quality in The Next propagation . This led to “ Blood and Fire , ” an airless episode write by David Gerrold in 1988 that has become infamous among LGBTQ+ fans .
Eager to speak theAIDS epidemic , Gerrold ’s project script fancy the Enterprise crew find a ship infect with Regulan bloodworms . The solution called for Enterprise officers to donate blood , a plot of ground point that Gerrold go for would encourage viewer to do the same , as he toldTrekMoviein 2014 : “ I wanted us to put a card at the end of the sequence saying you may donate blood , contact your local Red Cross . ” Aboard the septic ship were two manlike graphic symbol ( Lts Freeman and Eakins ) in a attached romantic human relationship . Tertiary characters at best , the two men only come along in “ Blood and Fire , ” and their relationship was lay down ina few line of dialogue . “ How long have you two been together ? ” asks a one - instalment character from the Enterprise . “ Since the Academy , ” replies Eakins , and nothing more is said about it . As representation go , it was refreshfully matter - of - fact — or it would have been , had the instalment ever made it to air .
In the decade since , belief have differed on why the sequence was canned . According to Gerrold in his interview withTrekMovie , producer Rick Berman raised worry that the open matter was too risqué for The Next Generation ’s timeslot , and that it would cause the show to lose viewers . This led to weeks of heated debate among the staff author , resulting in the instalment being axed and Gerrold furiously depart the series . While we do n’t know exactly what snuff it on behind the scenes , it seems safe to say that there were headache among the producer that showing merry character onscreen would hurt ratings . Roddenberry , however , did n’t give up on his promise to fans — though he would n’t hold out to see it fulfilled .
On August 8 , 1991,Roddenberry was quotedin the mag The Advocate as enunciate : “ In the fifth time of year of Star Trek : The Next Generation , viewers will see more of shipboard lifespan in some episode , which will admit gay crew members in day - to - Clarence Day destiny . ” This interview was direct in response toa rough letter - writing campaignfrom fan group the Gaylactic internet , which beg the Star Trek writers to include queer characters . Both sci - fi novelist Arthur C. Clarke and actor Leonard Nimoy ( Spock ) wrote letter in support of this campaign . Yet , despite Roddenberry ’s renewed pledge to admit gay representation , he died just two months later , go forth Rick Berman at the rein of the franchise . The Next Generation never featured a braw character … although it did come near .
The Next Generation often explored social matter through allegory , and in the season five episode “ The Outcast , ” the writers tackle theme of sex , gender , and ostracisation . In the episode , Riker come for Soren , a member of an androgynous race who identify as female , in rebelliousness of the recognised indifferent gender . Soren is ultimately forced to undergo “ treatment , ” a brainwashing procedure that is a light criticism ofconversion therapy — a sheer stance to take in 1992 . For Jonathan Frakes , however , the writers go down short of making a real impact .
“ It seemed to me that it was such a large chance , since Roddenberry had always taken such pride in plow these issues , to cast a man in that part instead of a female actor . ” Frakes , who played William Riker andcontinues to directmany episode of Star Trek shows , told io9 that he feel that by chuck Soren as a woman , The Next Generation missed the chance to show a genuine outcast narration , as two male actors present a romantic couple would have challenged viewer perception at the clock time . “ I have in mind , that was the message of the whole show , ” he state , “ But we had this fille and we put a Puck wig on her to make her look unisex . I do n’t know , it was very freaky . ”
Considering that “ The Outcast ” was The Next Generation ’s only answer to the lover campaign for jocund case , it ’s a shame that the author yet again fell back on allegory . And it did n’t have to be allegorical — although having a manly actor portray Soren only occurred to Frakes years later , the author considered casting a man , but the mind was shot down . Explaining the situation to the San Jose Mercury News later on in 1992,Berman again raise his concernof spectator response : “ Having Riker absorb in passionate kisses with a male player might have been a minuscule unpalatable to viewers . ”
Had “ The pariah ” have a male actor in the role of Soren , this would have been a huge pace forward for idiot box , as there had only been four festal twosome on TVthus far . Yet , just like with “ Blood and Fire , ” attempts to make Star Trek queerer were prevented before the episode bare , and Soren was portray by a cis distaff actor rather . As it stands , “ The Ishmael ” was still an important step for Star Trek challenge the boundaries of sexuality and sexuality , and it was one which pave the fashion for the next spinoff to be even bolder .
“Time to win the war”
You ’d be forgiven for thinking that Discovery stigmatize the first time a queer human relationship was depicted on Star Trek . But while Stamets and Culber are the first long - run gay duo , the honor of the first osculation between two women in Trek history goes toDeep Space Nine .
Jadzia Dax was a Trill , an alien comprise of a 700 - twelvemonth - old symbiote and a deadly host . As symbiotes interchange between manful and female hosts , this start the Deep Space Nine writers to push the bound of sexuality : Jadzia commented on the attraction of various woman , and would often talk about her experiences living as a man . This came to a headway in the 1995 episode “ rejoin , ” wherein Jadzia is reunited with Lenara Khan , wife of Dax ’s previous male server . Despite the Trill law against reassociation , ie : rekindle old romances , Jadzia and Lenara are unable to overcome their attraction to one another — and thus was bear Star Trek ’s first gay kiss .
When io9 spoke to Ronald D. Moore onDeep Space Nine ’s 25th anniversary , we ask him why , as conscientious objector - showrunner and author of “ Rejoined , ” he select to cast Lenera Khan as a woman . “ It was really built into the conception of the Trill , so we think what if Dax encountered a woman from the past that it had been necessitate with as a man , y’know , would n’t that be daring . At this point , erotic love between two charwoman was very controversial to portray . ”
For Moore , this determination was root in a sensory faculty of responsibility to Star Trek ’s account of social commentary . “ We guess let ’s do it , because we are Star Trek and we ’re presuppose to be challenge these things , in the mode that the original series challenged a lot of taboos about subspecies relations back in the ‘ 60 . So should n’t we be taste this too ? ” Challenging taboos was never going to be easygoing . But after much back and away between producer and writer , Moore is happy they were able to get the episode on the air . “ We were able-bodied to drive it through the organisation and get the episode made , ” he said . “ Ultimately it was the right present moment to deliver the goods that war . ”
“ Rejoined ” was a nerve - wrenching love story , whichstill resonates with buff todaythanks to its geographic expedition of societal prejudices . But beyond the social commentary , “ Rejoined ” established a crucial fact about the Federation — that same - sex relationship are not just consent , but routine , as none of Jadzia ’s coworkers are surprised at the idea of two women being in making love . This was a subtle but significant victory for Star Trek , specially considering how Beverly Crusher had balk at the idea of rekindling her own love story with a now - female Trill in The Next Generation episode “ The Host , ” which bare in 1991 . “ Rejoined ” was also something of a landmark installment for television system at the time , vent just four class after the first gay candy kiss in USA telecasting account ( onLA Lawin 1991 ) , and featuring thefifth lesbian kissever to be show on television . And yes , it did indeed prove to be controversial .
Before the instalment even aired , several of Paramount ’s regional affiliates cut the osculation from the broadcast , and in the aftermath , Paramount ’s phone note light up with complaint from conservative TV audience . In an consultation for the Star Trek : Deep Space Nine Companion book , producer Steve Oster recalledone viewer ring the show to charge them of “ ruining my tike by making them watch over two woman kiss like that . ” According to Oster , the production assistant who took the call asked the valet if he would be all right with his children seeing one adult female shoot the other . When the human beings replied that this would be hunky-dory , the PA said , “ Then maybe you should reconsider who ’s ruining your kid . ” However , Oster also revealed that for every phone ill the show welcome , other fans wrote in expressing their gratitude to Deep Space Nine for show quixotic love life between women .
https://gizmodo.com/why-we-need-utopian-fiction-now-more-than-ever-1830260945
The battle continues…
Then there ’s the question of Garak , a fall back character reference whom role player Andrew Robinson played as “ not having a define sexuality . ” Speaking toLiz Sourbut for Amazonin 2012 , Robinson explained that for him , Garak ’s sex was “ inclusive , ” and that the Cardassian tailor always found his close friend Dr. Bashir attractive . However , he strike roadblocks in stress to limn this attraction . “ This is a family show , they have to keep it on the ‘ straight and minute ’ , so then I backed off from it . For the most part , the writers supported the character beautifully , but in that area they just made a selection they did n’t desire to go there , and if they do n’t want to go there I ca n’t , because the writing does n’t corroborate it . ” However , Robinson has later penned several Star Trek books that confirm Garak ’s “ inclusive ” gender .
The fight to include gay character in the main cast of a Star Trek show would rage on for year — and fans hoped this would eventually go on when Seven of Nine was introduced to Voyager . In 1995 , a devotee brass dubbed the Voyager Visibility Project was spring to squeeze Paramount to add up a gay or lesbian character to the show . This project was endorsed byGLAAD , and Voyager producer Jeri Taylor seemed sympathetic to their lawsuit . When it was declare that Seven of Nine would be tot to the show in season four , rumors aboundedthat she would be a tribade , or at the very least , that she would “ try out with her sexuality ” while adjusting to sprightliness after the Borg .
However , in theMarch 1998 issue of TV Guide , Taylor regretfully debunked these rumors , saying : “ The idea is something I ’m perfectly sympathetic with , and I have essay several times to do it . But for various cause there has been resistance , and it gradually became unmortgaged that this is a scrap I could not win . ” Neither Voyager nor prequel series Enterprise featured a queer character in the main stamp , and as metre wore on — Enterprise ended in 2005 — fan got increasingly incense with the lack of representation .
The producer were far from forgetful about the fans ’ desire for LGBTQ+ characters . In 2011 , Brannon Braga ( longtime Star Trek producer , and showrunner for Voyager and Enterprise)told magazine AfterEltonthat he rue never including a gay character in the main roll of any Trek show , explain that the decision - makers were “ squeamish ” about the medical prognosis . “ There was a constant back and forth about how we [ should ] portray the spectrum of sexuality . There were people who matt-up very strongly that we should be showing [ it ] casually , just two guys together in the background in Ten Forward . At the sentence the decision was made not to do that . ” Braga said he felt confident that now , those same decision - makers would make a different call — and with Discovery , the clip finally come for Star Trek to live up to Roddenberry ’s hope , for skilful or worse .
Discovery fulfills the promise, but falters
Before Star Trek : Discovery even had a name , another hope was made that we would finally see jocund characters walking the decks of a Starfleet vas . In August 2016 , then - showrunnerBryan Fuller told fansthat there would “ dead ” be a homophile character reference in the independent cast , reach what had been fought for but block for so many years . However , we ’re far beyond the era of mouse gay buss past censors , and the new show ’s queer histrionics has been disputatious to say the least .
Discovery season one introduce us to Lt . Paul Stamets and Dr. Hugh Culber , a married couple whose beloved chronicle was already years in the making — which resonated well with Anthony Rapp ( who play Stamets ) and Wilson Cruz ’s long - term friendship . reverberate on his time playing Culber , Cruz tell io9 how impressed he and Rapp were from the first second they read the Discovery playscript . “ We were proceed by how seriously this relationship was being treated by the show , that it was being held up as an example of on-key love . ”
Culber and Stamets are your typical married distich , and it is the understated nature of their relationship that , ironically , progress to it rather remarkable . So often in mass medium , if queer mass are admit it ’s to make some kind of socio - political point . We even see this in Star Trek : both “ The Outcast ” and “ Rejoined ” revolve around kinship taboos , and sport tragical or bittersweet finale . While this has its place , LGBTQ+ living is not inherently political , and it ’s important to show queer relationships as just another part of living . This was something that Cruz really appreciated about Culber and Stamets ’ romance .
“ Our lives are more than just our family relationship and our sexual practice lives ; our lives are as complicated and complex as anybody else ’s , ” Cruz told us . “ Not all our problems have to do with who we love . Most of them do n’t actually . So I ’m felicitous to see that that organic evolution is happening in media . ”
However , Discovery ’s approach to theatrical performance has not been without its share of controversy . Culber ’s death at the hands of sleeper agent Ash Tyler led to huge sports fan backlash , as many people felt that Star Trek had fallen target to thesurprisingly common“bury - your - homo ” trope , in which merry characters are introduced only to be killed later . To say this is damaging would be an understatement , and while no one is indicate that LGBTQ+ characters should be immortal , when representation is so sparse and then queer and trans characters are more likely to give out , that hardly ship an affirming message . For this to happen to Star Trek ’s first homo couple after years of fighting for LGBTQ+ mental representation in the franchise , Culber ’s death feel even more personal to fan — and to those crop on the show .
As he aim “ Despite Yourself , ” the time of year one episode in which Culber is killed , Jonathan Frakes was remind of “ The Outcast , ” and the shadow of what could have been . “ Stamets and Culber ’s family relationship was so powerful , ” he explain , “ So crucial to them and to the show . And I thought oh my God , this is like a strange revisit of a neglect chance . You do n’t need to drink down one of the devotee of what is going to be an iconic festive duet on a rack up television show ! It just does n’t make any good sense . ” Frakes also recalled the moment that Cruz was told Culber was being down off . “ I was with Wilson weeping at the mind that he would die on that show . This show was huge for him . It was huge for all of us ! But when he got the phone call before he shoot that picture , it was devastating . ”
Culber ’s death was not without purpose , though , and at the end of time of year one he was able to guide Stamets from beyond the grave . This made for a beautiful second , one which Cruz found heartening : “ I may have die but it really was our love that allowed [ Stamets ] to save not just our universe , but every universe . Gay love did that ! And that ’s middling incredible . ”
It is very rare for heroic , romantic moments to be awarded to LGBTQ+ people ; if quixotic love is perish to save the day , unremarkably it will be the love between a man and a cleaning woman . Yet , as groundbreaking as it was for Discovery to give this minute to a gay couple , its importance was far overshadowed by the arguing of Culber ’s death … although there was still more to the taradiddle . [ Warning : spoiler for Discovery time of year two to follow . ]
“You’re my home”
Culber ’s resurrection in ashocking time of year two episodeallowed the show to explore him as a character , as he confronted his purpose and base it difficult to reunify with his husband . “ I got to define him a lot more this year , ” explained Cruz . “ He ’s such an empath and he really wears his heart on his clean sleeve , and that makes him a better doctor . ” This made for a compelling story that concede Culber some meaningful character ontogenesis , while revealing what made Culber and Stamets ’ human relationship work , even as it fell apart .
Although this plot often fall prey to the cakehole of tattle , not showing ( and we ’re left wonder if it was tacked - on last minute ) , every moment between Rapp and Cruz bear great excited weight , which is due in large part to the strong point of the actors . The scene in which Culber tell an ailing Stamets that he ’s staying on the Discovery , because Stamets is his home , is one ofthe close ’s high spot . Of course , the show could always do more — we still have n’t seen any trans or non - binary characters on Discovery — and lonesome responsibility of the franchise ’s LGBTQ+ theatrical performance can not rest on just two characters . gratefully , there are no longer just two in the principal plaster bandage , but here , again , we see Discovery both succeed and waver in providing good queer delegacy .
In a touching finale scene with Culber , new character Jett Reno ( played by Tig Notaro ) have-to doe with to her former wife , continuing the drift of refreshfully matter - of - fact representation . This is an effective style to establish that a character is peculiar , as Reno ’s story does n’t revolve around her sexual identity operator . The only weight this revelation carries is to produce romantic solidarity between Reno and Culber — not because they ’re both singular , but because they have both know sexual love and loss . So , points to Discovery for that .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBPXexwCgpw
Then there ’s Michelle Yeoh ’s lusciously amoral Emperor Georgiou , who seems to have a liquid sexuality : At the final stage of time of year one , she goes to seam with two Orion dancers , one male and one female person . Georgiou being curious is fantastic , specially as she ’ll be Star Trek ’s first LGBTQ+ lead onceher Section 31 seriesis release . However , she is also a textbookDepraved Bisexual , a detrimental trope wherein a bi character ’s sexuality is ensnare as another part of their villainy .
While you could fence that Georgiou does n’t care boundaries of any variety , there ’s a scene in the installment “ The Red Angel ” which is spectacularly shade - deaf , as Georgiou hits on Stamets only to be say that he ’s gay , which she scoffs at . Not only is this a strange path to establish that the damage “ gay ” and “ pansexual ” are still being used in the 23rd one C , it also perpetuates negative stereotypes about timeserving bisexuality and pose a bi woman against two gay men . Again , Discovery hear for good delegacy but plummets into the pitfall of another damaging trope .
Yet , as the USS Discovery sails into the futurein season three , Discovery has an excellent opportunity to bring home the bacon LGBTQ+ representation that goes beyond the classic definitions of homo , straight , and pan / bisexual , as well as binary gender . Everyone deserve to get a slice of that shining future , and showing LGBTQ+ younker a world where they are have and screw is what Cruz has always considered to be the most rewarding part of his part . For him , Discovery “ sends a message to those untested people that we have always been here . That we are a part of the human fabric , and that we will gain the form of high society where your sexuality and sexuality have less to do with how you ’re value than what you do and who you are . For me , the most of import thing is the reassurance to immature mass that everything is go to be all right . ”
Looking to the future
inquisitive fiction roleplay a lively theatrical role in our story pantheon . It is the space where we can imagine literally any theory , build up better future , and hope to influence real spirit by show what ’s potential . If LGBTQ+ people are systematically ignored and disregard out of this genre , then a cleared message is sent : In all theserealms of theory , homophile people still do n’t have a post . That sure enough does n’t support Star Trek ’s core musical theme of inclusivity and celebration of diversity . The promise of the Federation is the hope of the hereafter , a future tense liberal from prejudice , a hereafter in which we ’ve evolved beyond everything that holds us back .
After the year of bias that have hassle Star Trek ’s journey to queer theatrical , Discovery has taken some huge pace forward . It ’s no longer surprising if anyone mentions a lover who is the same gender as them . “ The universe in which we live in on the show is a piazza where everyone is willing and able of loving anyone , ” say Cruz , and that ’s crucial to establish for an apparently utopian lodge . Although Discovery has hit in render internal representation , Star Trek is finally instruct how to subsist up to the hopeful hope of the Federation : That one day , decennary or centuries from now , we will all get hold a better future among the superstar — regardless of who we love .
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Jonathan FrakesLGBT+RepresentationSci - FiStar Trek
