Dpe beg known as a lear terms of genr and racial tegratn, wasn't until 2017 that the first openly gay characters were troduced a Star Trek televisn show. We talk to curator Margaret Weekamp about Star Trek's history wh LGBTQ+ stori and characters.
Contents:
- ‘STAR TREK’ GETS ITS FIRST LGBTQ CHARACTER: SULU IS REVEALED TO BE GAY
- FOR PRI MONTH, WE CELEBRATE STAR TREK’S GAYT MOMENTS
‘STAR TREK’ GETS ITS FIRST LGBTQ CHARACTER: SULU IS REVEALED TO BE GAY
And as if that wasn't queer enough, Q then go on to tnt Jean-Luc about his relatnship wh Marta, the implitn beg that Q don't 's no wonr then that The Advote, even back 1995, cid to qutn Patrick Stewart about the possibily of Q beg queer — or "gay" as they put (terview reproduced here and here).
FOR PRI MONTH, WE CELEBRATE STAR TREK’S GAYT MOMENTS
" The Advote then went one step further wh this theory by suggtg that, "If Q is the eed nature of Pird, and Q might be gay, is there some possibily Pird is reprsg homoerotic parts of himself? Even Patrick Stewart himself was well aware of the homoerotic unrton of his character's relatnship wh Q, even if Pird didn't necsarily reciprote — or outright adm — those feelgs the same way that Q always be fair, was the '90s, so any homoeroticism to be found this iendship was forced to rema implic regardls.
In an earlier 1991 issue of The Advote (via The Salon), Gene Rodnberry was quoted as sayg, "In the fifth season of Star Trek: The Next Generatn, viewers will see more of shipboard life some episos, which will clu gay crew members day-to-day circumstanc. It was also a shame to Patrick Stewart as well, as far back as 1995 when he lamented the fact that no gay people uld see themselv on a show that's supposed to reprent a future utopia: "I thk gay people would probably feel dismayed, " Patrick told The Advote.
Even after his ath, took another 28 years for the first gay character to appear Star Trek’s televisn seri (although y, novel tie-s, ics, fan works, and other non-nonil media featured a markedly improved number of LGBT Starfleet officers). Given that the first openly gay recurrg character on televisn wouldn’t appear until the edy Soap 1977 (and played by Billy Crystal, so not exactly a nuanced character portrayal), pictg one the ‘60s when Star Trek first aired would have been unthkable to most people. Of urse, much of what Star Trek did to highlight actors and characters of different ethnic backgrounds would have been pretty far-fetched for many televisn dienc of the time, too – so what ma gay stori different at the time?