Gays in star trek

Sexual relationships in Star Trek have mostly been depicted heteronormatively.

There have been depictions of bisexual relationships, but always with a twist (e.g. using versions of characters from a mirror universe instead of the "real" ones; female Trill Dax and Kahn in "Rejoined" have been a heterosexual couple in their former lives). [1]. On Star Trek: Discovery, Paul Stamets and Hugh Culber was the first gay relationship that viewers were able to connect with.

Their marriage sometimes comes into the foreground, and on occasion really sets the stage for major plot developments, but overall, they’re simply two officers in love. Ennis: As a pioneer in Star Trek, in terms of being an out gay man, playing a gay character, in a relationship with another man, do you see that the unfolding of having non-binary characters like.

Wilson Cruz may have technically missed the boat on being the first gay man in Star Trek, but he is the first person to say the word out loud on the show – an incredulous “You do know he’s gay, right?” at Mirror Georgiou when she attempts to flirt with Stamets in front of him. Star Trek: Discovery’s fifth season marks the end of the most diverse and LGBTQ+ inclusive series in the year-old sci-fi franchise.

After a television journey that’s lasted seven years, five. Homosexuality has a firm place in official Star Trek now, so this topic can be closed. In Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future there is no place for racial stereotypes as they were still commonplace in the s, or for traditional gender roles. At least theoretically. We need to bear in mind that the original Star Trek had three white men in the key roles, and that it was made under the surveillance of conservative network directors.

They reportedly wanted to get rid of the alien Spock as well as of "Number One", the woman in a commanding position. Yet, in the following the series spoke out against the preconceptions and prejudices of the time on many occasions. Sometimes by breaking taboos like with Uhura's and Kirk's interracial kiss in TOS: "Plato's Stepchildren" - although that kiss was forced.

A certain degree of racism and sexism still exists in today's society and occasionally shows up in TV programs. But all in all, in the past few decades the question of skin color and gender on screen has become a non-issue, so that the decision to get a black commander for Deep Space 9 or a female captain on Voyager was not anywhere as bold as it would have been in the s.

Yet, there is one last field at least, one field of high social relevance in which Star Trek did not accomplish the goal of equality for a long time. Except for a few occasional innuendos, homosexuality was absent from the Star Trek Universe. Everyone of the characters seemed to be straight by default. And while other mainstream TV series did include same-sex relationships in some fashion since around the year , the gay, lesbian and bisexual Star Trek fans were waiting to be acknowledged in their favorite fictional universe.

Since the early days of TNG their hopes were nourished by occasional testimonies from the producers or actors who kept promising that one day there would be outspoken homosexuality in the show, as well as by rumors whenever a new character was to appear who could be gay. Several groups were committed to promoting lesbian, gay or bisexual appearances on Star Trek.

The motivation to get homosexuality into canon Star Trek should be distinguished from another phenomenon, the so-called slash fiction. While the idea to work towards sexual diversity is generally the same, the slash authors take it one step further and often too far. They have written erotic slash stories about virtually every combination of regular characters of equal sex.

Getting gay or lesbian characters onto the screen is about adjusting the statistics and doing justice to a group of fans who have been ignored so far. Slash fiction which is often not even written by fans who are homosexual themselves , on the other hand, is chiefly a matter of taste. Probably more than usual fan fiction that is well within the bounds of canon Trek.

star trek blood and fire

Ultimately the lacking acceptance of slash fiction lies in the nature of the stories that are purposely written to appeal only to a minority of fans, rather than in homophobia of those who just don't like it. I refrain from commenting on "evidence" from the series that may justify slash fiction. There are subtle gestures that purportedly imply that a character is attracted to another one of the same sex and that may require a sensitive "gaydar" and a good deal of wishful thinking to be decipherable.

As already mentioned, fans either like to read or avoid slash fiction, and I freely admit that I'm doing the latter. The key to slash fiction seems to be romantic transfiguration anyway, so there would be no need for a rational explanation anyway. It certainly is inconsistent that homosexuality is almost completely missing from the fictional Trek Universe. This is the "Investigations" section at EAS where I generally try to put some things straight Sorry for the pun, I noticed it too late but found my own awkwardness amusing.

Nevertheless, it is not the goal of this essay to find proof for the existence of same-sex relationships in the 24th century. Even if the statistics of canon Trek may insinuate otherwise, I reject the reasoning that homosexuality may become extinct in the Federation. It would not be the Federation of tolerance and diversity that we all know, much less do I want to support the bigotry that gay people must be "healed" or "re-educated".

I wholeheartedly support the demand of having gay characters in the show.