I Love How Queerness In Star Trek Is Normalized

Summary

I love that queerness inStar Trekis normalized . It seems utterly born forStar Trekto admit odd characters , butexplicit on - blind LGBTQ+ representation has been surprisingly rare until of late . Star Trek ’s first same - gender kiss made franchise chronicle in 1995 , when Lt . Commander Jadzia Dax ( Terry Farrell ) fell for Lenara Kahn ( Susanna Thompson ) inStar Trek : Deep Space Nineseason 4 , sequence 9 , " Rejoined " . Lt . Hikaru Sulu ( John Cho ) was briefly shown with a male partner in 2016’sStar Trek Beyond . Both instances were view controversial at the time , even thoughStar Trekwas known for being forwards of the breaking ball in representing other types of diversity .

In 2017,Star Trek : Discoverybecame home toStar Trek ’s first queer independent fibre , Commander Paul Stamets ( Anthony Rapp ) and Dr. Hugh Culber ( Wilson Cruz).Discoveryfeatured no less than five master or recurring LGBTQ+ characters over its 5 seasons , including nonbinary fictional character and actor Ensign Adira Tal played by Blu del Barrio , and there have been far morequeer type in modernStar Trekshows , with each series include at least one . Queer fans have unquestionably benefited from more direct LGBTQ+ agency inStar Trek , but the dependable smasher of inclusion is n’t just in queerStar Trekcharacters subsist – it ’s inhowcharacters onStar Trekare fagot .

While the Star Trek franchise has only added explicitly LGBTQ+ characters in the last 4 - 5 years , it has had tie to queer themes from the beginning .

Why Star Trek Uses Alien Metaphors For LGBTQ+ Identities

How Metaphorical Queerness In Star Trek Can Be Helpful

By telling story about exotic society as stand - atomic number 49 for literal human diversity , Star Treksheds brightness level on the fag experience without needing to explicitly state that . InStar Trek : The Next Generationseason 5 , episode 17 , " The castaway " , Soren ( Melinda Culea ) is a distaff phallus of the otherwise agender J’naii , who was portrayed as a victim of systemic oppression that cisgender and/or heterosexual hearing can sympathize with . Star Trek : Enterpriseseason 2 , sequence 14 , " Stigma " run a metaphoric parallel to the HIV / AIDS crisis whenSubcommander T’Pol ( Jolene Blalock ) , a regular character spectator already have it off well , deals with contracting Pa’nar Syndrome after a mind meld .

Allegories are more worthful , however , when the gayness inStar Trekis explicit . Star Trek ’s future does n’t care about homosexual relationships but it count in the 1990s , so Dax ’s relationship with Lenara Kahn inStar Trek : Deep Space Nineis framed with a Trill taboo against reassociation . “Rejoined " is relevant because Jadzia and Lenara still fight a social stigmaechoing contemporary attitudes towards same - sex relationships . Adira ’s nonbinary gender and they / them pronouns are n’t an consequence for anyone inStar Trek : Discovery , but make Adira Tal the host of a Trill symbiont ( literally a plural form entity ) is a clever way to begin change resistant psyche about using they / them for actual nonbinary the great unwashed .

InStar Trek : Discoveryseason 5 , sequence 6 , " Whistlespeak " , part of Captain Michael Burnham ’s ( Sonequa Martin - Green ) xenoanthropological legal brief on the pre - warp society on Halem’no is the Halem’nites ' recognition of 3 gender . Without drawing any attention to it , everyone only defaults to they / them pronouns for guest character Ravah ( June Laporte ) .

Star Trek’s Queer Stories Aren’t About the Future (They’re About Now)

Star Trek Models An Ideal Version Of The Present

rather of being a literal prediction of the expected future tense , Star Trekis a projection of an ideal futurity base on present circumstances , so as being queer becomes less stigmatized in the present , queer emblem inStar Trekis put back with actual LGBTQ+ mental representation . Part of that normalization is show queer characters ' problem and imperfection unfettered by modern literary criticism . Adira Tal is just as anxious about come out as nonbinary as they are about working on the USS Discovery ’s bridge . The vault toCaptain Seven of Nine ( Jeri Ryan)and Commander Raffi Musiker ’s ( Michelle Hurd ) family relationship inStar Trek : Picardare Seven ’s Borg past and Raffi ’s substance contumely , not anti - braw rhetoric .

Queerness is acknowledged , but is in the end an ordinary part ofStar Trekcharacters . Stamets and Culber ’s marriage onStar Trek : Discoveryis just part of the fabric of the show . Their relationship is organic , easily accepted , and never feels tokenistic . InStar Trek : Lower Decks , Lt . Beckett Mariner ’s ( Tawny Newsome ) sexual predilection is just one of many things that make Mariner one of modernStar Trek ’s most interesting characters . Being queer onStar Trekis completely normalized , further leaven howStar Trek ’s future tense is a wonderful celebration of human diversity in the modern present , and I love that .