Star Trek’s First Gay Couple That Wasn’t - The Stranger

Contents:

• BRYAN FULLER PRAIS HOW ‘STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NE’ PAVED A GAY WAY FOR ‘DISVERY’
• STAR TREK ACTORS STAND BEHD GAY SULU REVELATN
• ‘STAR TREK’ GETS ITS FIRST LGBTQ CHARACTER: SULU IS REVEALED TO BE GAY
• 'STAR TREK: DISVERY' STARS DISCS PLAYG THE FRANCHISE'S FIRST GAY COUPLE
• FOR PRI MONTH, WE CELEBRATE STAR TREK’S GAYT MOMENTS
• HAS STAR TREK'S SULU ALWAYS BEEN GAY? IT'S COMPLITED
• STAR TREK’S FIRST GAY COUPLE THAT WASN’T
• STAR TREK: DISVERY STS 3 ACTORS, ADDS GAY CHARACTER

BRYAN FULLER PRAIS HOW ‘STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NE’ PAVED A GAY WAY FOR ‘DISVERY’

Ennis: As a pneer Star Trek, terms of beg an out gay man, playg a gay character, a relatnship wh another man, do you see that the unfoldg of havg non-bary characters like Adira and a trans character, even a ghostly versn, how do that make you feel terms of the craft and and our muny? 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? But still others were spired – enough that Kirk and Spock’s endurg nnectn to one another has remaed a potent symbol of homosexual love for Trek fans. Durg a 20th anniversary nventn 1986, show creator Gene Rodnberry was asked by a foundg member of a Boston LGBT science fictn group (lled, charmgly, the Gaylaxian Network) whether or not the recently announced The Next Generatn would troduce gay characters to Starfleet.

STAR TREK ACTORS STAND BEHD GAY SULU REVELATN

That same year, Gerrold (who’s bt known for wrg the TOS episo “The Trouble Wh Tribbl”) began workg on a script which revolved around two gay characters beg afflicted by an curable, tergalactic blood disease that mirrored the spread of HIV.

Dpe this, Rodnberry still seemed mted to makg good on his promise to the Gaylaxians, who by 1990 had begun a letter-wrg petn (spurred partly by Gerrold’s stori of his episo’s mise at var nventn appearanc).

In a letter to The Advote, Rodnberry wrote that " the fifth season of Star Trek: The Next Generatn, viewers will see more of shipboard life some episos, which will, among other thgs, clu gay crew members day-to-day circumstanc. Dpe the oddns of a metaphor for gay rights that volv what is ostensibly a heteronormative uple at the center, Soren’s story is still the clost that ‘90s Star Trek ever me to addrsg issu and them specific to the LGBT rights movement, particularly the ia of nversn therapy.

‘STAR TREK’ GETS ITS FIRST LGBTQ CHARACTER: SULU IS REVEALED TO BE GAY

The Natnal Associatn for Rearch & Therapy of Homosexualy, an anizatn that still promot this harmful practice, was found that same year 1992. Acrdg to fan mors, early drafts of the screenplay for Star Trek: First Contact ma some mentn of a mor character, Litenant Hawk, beg gay, which was quickly nied by producer Rick Berman (a supposed first draft that surfaced onle refers to Hawk as a naive young Ensign, not a Litenant). “There was a pregnant ensign – Ensign Wildman – and she was gog to have gay godparents to her child, ” said Fuller, explag the show’s potential plotle – that never got ma.

'STAR TREK: DISVERY' STARS DISCS PLAYG THE FRANCHISE'S FIRST GAY COUPLE

In 1996, a group of science fictn wrers, fans, and activists associated wh the San Francis Bay Area Chapter of the Gay & Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn lnched an onle petn known as the “Voyager Visibily Project, ” which at s height gathered more than five thoand signatur om fans every U. As was the se wh Litenant Hawk, the Voyager tie- novels often boldly went where the show would not, albe only wh ancillary characters; Harry Kim’s roommate at Starfleet Amy is portrayed as gay Pathways and there are several same-genr upl picted passg throughout the book. “I've approached [Rick] many, many tim over the years about gettg a gay character on the show — one whom we uld really love, not jt a gut star.

FOR PRI MONTH, WE CELEBRATE STAR TREK’S GAYT MOMENTS

Rumor had 2001 that Domic Keatg’s character, Mallm Reed, would be wrten as gay, but never me to pass (although Keatg has sce ma jok about havg played him that way).

Of urse, the visible gay reprentatn that “Blood and Fire” episo would have given to TNG was not prent here – stead, the episo, ”Stigma, ” revolved around T’Pol ntractg a generative Vuln illns through a md-meld, which at this pot Star Trek’s timele was nsired taboo. Here, AIDS was origally a gay disease, and certaly the middle of the untry that's how was wily perceived and sometim still is perceived to be. 2 billn at the box office, so of urse the news that Star Trek Beyond would feature the first gay character the anchise ma natnal headl.

“I liked the approach, which was not to make a big thg out , which is where I hope we are gog as a speci, to not policise one’s personal orientatns, ” actor John Cho told the Herald Sun, notg that director Jt L wanted to nod to Takei’s real-life stggl wh acceptance and gay rights activism. For his part, Takei exprsed public ncerns that retroactively makg his character gay did more harm to the show’s legacy than good. Others wanted to see somethg more substantial om Star Trek’s first gay officer than a small tail the background of a scene – pecially when actor John Cho revealed that a “wele home“ kiss was cut om the fal ed.

HAS STAR TREK'S SULU ALWAYS BEEN GAY? IT'S COMPLITED

Not long after, was revealed actor Anthony Rapp would play the first gay Star Trek character a televisn seri, Pl Stamets, and that Wilson Cz would play his hband, Dr.

STAR TREK’S FIRST GAY COUPLE THAT WASN’T

Wilson Cz may have technilly missed the boat on beg the first gay man Star Trek, but he is the first person to say the word out loud on the show – an crlo “You do know he’s gay, right? Leonard Nemoy himself gave support 1991, sayg, "It is entirely ftg that gays and lbians will appear unobtsively aboard the Enterprise—neher objects of py nor melodramatic attentn.

Premierg 2017 to cril and fan acclaim, “Star Trek: Disvery” featured out gay actors (and origal “Rent” -stars) Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cz as chief engeer Pl Stamets and his hband Hugh Culber, rpectively. Together, they ma history as the first out gay uple on any “Star Trek” anchise, and that’s somethg seri -creator Bryan Fuller is very proud of.

The first openly gay characters the Star Trek televisn universe weren’t troduced until the first season of Star Trek: Disvery 2017. (Although is worth notg that the 2016 film Star Trek Beyond is tablished that the Hika Sulu of the Kelv Timele, portrayed by John Cho, is gay — a nod to Gee Takei, who origated the role of Sulu Star Trek: The Origal Seri and publicly me out as gay 2005.

STAR TREK: DISVERY STS 3 ACTORS, ADDS GAY CHARACTER

Hugh Culber, portrayed by out actors Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cz, are the first openly gay characters and the first gay uple portrayed the central st of a Star Trek tv show. The team behd the show sist that his short-lived ath isn’t a “bury your gays” moment, wh executive producer Aaron Harberts sayg an terview wh IndieWire: “It was sential that this crime not be gratuo. In the mid- to late-1980s, a group of science fictn fans formed a group lled the Gaylactic Network wh the tly credible slogan, “Out of the closet and to the universe.

“As var groups of gay and lbian science fictn fans, like the Gaylactic Network, start to ph that they wanna see more posive reprentatn, Star Trek seems like a really likely place bee had been so out ont terms of posive pictns of Ain Amerins, Asian Amerins, women learship rol, ” Margaret explas. There are nflictg acunts on whether Star Trek creator Gene Rodnberry promised that there would be an out gay character Star Trek: The Next Generatn (1987-1994), but ultimately there isn’t. In 1992, ed genr inty as an allegory for homosexualy, but watchg today, you n’t help but wish uld have treated the ia of beg non-bary not as an allegory but as an ia to explore rpectfully and of self.

There is an argument that may not be valid, though Gene Rodnberry himself said that before he died, he had planned to troduce gay characters. Image source, PAImage ptn, Simon Pegg (send left) receiv a kiss om Chris Pe at Star Trek Beyond's UK premiereThe stars of the latt Star Trek film have stood behd s revelatn that long-standg character Sulu is gay. "I'm lighted that there's a gay character [ the film], " the 79-year-old told the Hollywood he claimed the "outg" of Hika Sulu was "a twistg" of Gene [Rodnberry]'s creatn, "to which he put so much thought" said Star Trek creator Rodnberry "was a strong supporter of LGBT equaly" but had always envisned Sulu as heterosexual.