Homosexuality and Star Trek

[c9]

So Mr. Sulu is gay! Well, George Takei is. That's cool. I'm glad he was able to take this step -- it's not many 68-year-olds who come out. Thanks to lifein2x3 for the link.

Star Trek has had a long, and frankly depressing, history with GLBT representation. (way more info than anybody needs!) In the sixties, the show was renowned for featuring diversity when it was unusual, interracial relations (Kirk and Uhura kissed) when it was never done, and (most importantly) peace on Earth. Nobody was trying to get the queers on TV back then, but when Star Trek: The Next Generation showed up, queer issues were front and centre in the world. Gene Roddenberry said there would be gay characters. The stars wanted gay characters. But nothing.

In 1996 we thought that Lt Hawk, a new character in the movie that year, was going to be gay. No such luck. Gene Roddenberry's replacement contradicted statements by the actor and crew to that effect, saying he was definitely straight. A later novel, Rogue, explicitly made him gay (though not explicitly gay!). But novels aren't canon, which means they don't count. Also, he died in the movie. :(

I really used to enjoy Star Trek, but the newer series got less and less interesting to me. Partly due to not seeing myself reflected in that universe. I'm probably the only one who cares about this, but whatever.

It's at this point that someone mentions how stylish and metrosexual the Star Trek pointy sideburns are.

Comments

[c9.livejournal.com]

Too true. It's so bizarre in a universe ruled by the gays (Hollywood) that the show was so uber-straight. And frustrating because homophobes saw it as proof that homosexuality will be "cured" -- if I had a nickel for every time I saw that on a message board, I'd be stinkin' rich!

[bartok.livejournal.com]

it's not a universe ruled by the gays, it's ruled by $$$. $$$ kept ST as "straight and narrow" as possible.

Homophobes see Star Trek as "proof"? Wow, they're more messed up than I thought.

It's actually one thing which really leaves ST in the cold, as I can't think of any other significant show that has been so "homo-free". Hmmm

Buffy: The whole Tara/Willow thing of course. And there was some dorky closet case in the last couple of seasons.

Babylon 5: Ivanova/Talia, which was never explicit. But there none-the-less.

Doctor Who: New series of course. Captain Jack.