Sexuality in Star Trek
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Sexuality has been a significant theme in the various ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' television and motion-picture series. Sexual relationships in ''Star Trek'' have mostly been depicted as
heteronormative Heteronormativity is the concept that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal mode of sexual orientation. It assumes the gender binary (i.e., that there are only two distinct, opposite genders) and that sexual and marital relations are most f ...
in nature. There have been depictions of
bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
relationships, but always with a twist (e.g. using versions of characters from a
mirror universe The Mirror Universe is the setting of several narratives in the '' Star Trek'' science fiction franchise, a parallel universe existing alongside, but separate from, the fictional universe that is the main setting of ''Star Trek''. It resembles ...
instead of the "real" ones; female Trill Dax and Kahn in "
Rejoined "Rejoined" is the 78th episode of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', the sixth of the fourth season. It originally aired on October 30, 1995, in broadcast syndication. The episode received a reco ...
" had been a heterosexual couple in their former lives). In ''Star Trek Discovery'', there were two same-sex marriages, while in ''Star Trek Enterprise'' there was a polyamorous character with three wives, each of whom had three husbands, with the marriages depicted as open to romantic and sexual relationships with others. Inter-species and
inter-ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
relationships have been commonly depicted. A comparatively broader range of views has been shown with respect to
monogamy Monogamy ( ) is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (serial monogamy) — as compared to the various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., polyga ...
,
polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
, and the institution of
marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
. In as much as sexuality can lead to
reproduction Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each individual or ...
, some plots have revolved around the possibility of children in a given inter-species relationship, as well as the
prejudice Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...
that the resulting children have to endure from their parents' societies. The representations reflect contemporaneous attitudes to sexuality of American culture, first during the sixties and then in later decades of the twentieth century.


Interracial relationships in ''Star Trek''


"Plato's Stepchildren"

The 1968 episode "
Plato's Stepchildren "Plato's Stepchildren" is the tenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek''. Written by Meyer Dolinsky and directed by David Alexander, it was first broadcast on November 22, 1968. In the ep ...
" is often cited as the " first interracial kiss" depicted on television, between
James T. Kirk James Tiberius Kirk is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in ''Star Trek'' serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as captain. Kirk leads ...
(
William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...
) and Lt. Uhura ( Nichelle Nichols), but the reality is not so straightforward. William Shatner recalls in ''Star Trek Memories'' that NBC insisted their lips never touch (the technique of turning their heads away from the camera was used to conceal this); moreover, the episode portrays the kiss as involuntary, being forced by telekinesis. Nichelle Nichols insists in her autobiography ''Beyond Uhura'' (written in 1994 after Shatner's book) that the kiss was real, even in takes where her head obscures their lips. The term "interracial" is used in this context to refer to black and white actors. ''Star Trek'' had also featured an interracial kiss between William Shatner and
France Nuyen France Nuyen (born France Nguyễn Vân Nga on 31 July 1939) is a French actress, model, and psychological counsellor. Early life Nguyen was born in Marseille. Her mother was French, and her father was widely reported to be Vietnamese, althoug ...
in "
Elaan of Troyius "Elaan of Troyius" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek''. Written and directed by John Meredyth Lucas, it was first broadcast on December 20, 1968. In the episode, the ''E ...
" but had drawn no comment. Nancy Sinatra and
Sammy Davis, Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...
kissed in the 1967 NBC TV special ''
Movin' With Nancy ''Movin' with Nancy'' is a television special featuring Nancy Sinatra in a series of musical vignettes featuring herself and other artists. Produced by Nancy's production company, Boots Enterprises, Inc., and sponsored by Royal Crown Cola, the s ...
'' (though on British television, the event had happened earlier in both a 1964 episode of the prime-time hospital soap '' Emergency – Ward 10'' and in 1962 in a live televised drama, ''
You in Your Small Corner "You in Your Small Corner" is a British television play shown in the ''Play of the Week'' series on the Independent Television (ITV) on 5 June 1962. It was formerly believed to include the first televised interracial kiss on British television ...
''). Despite this, when NBC executives learned of the kiss they became concerned it would anger TV stations in the conservative Deep South. Earlier in 1968, NBC had expressed similar concern over a musical sequence in a Petula Clark special in which she touched
Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
's arm, a moment cited as the first occasion of direct physical contact on American television between a man and woman of different races. At one point during negotiations, the idea was brought up of having Spock kiss Uhura instead, but William Shatner insisted that they stick with the original script. NBC finally ordered that two versions of the scene be shot—one where Kirk and Uhura kissed and one where they did not. Having successfully shot the former version of the scene, Shatner and Nichelle Nichols deliberately flubbed every take of the latter version, thus forcing the episode to go out with the kiss intact. As Nichelle Nichols writes: There were few contemporary records of any complaints commenting on the scene.Nichols, pp. 196-197 Nichelle Nichols observes that "Plato's Stepchildren" which first aired in November 1968 "received a huge response. We received one of the largest batches of fan mail ever, all of it positive, with many addressed to me from girls wondering how it felt to kiss Captain Kirk, and many to him from guys wondering the same thing about me. Almost no one found the kiss offensive" except from a single mildly negative letter by a white Southerner. Nichols notes that "for me, the most memorable episode of our last season was 'Plato's Stepchildren'."


LGBT in ''Star Trek''

''Star Trek''s original series did not have any explicitly
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
characters, although in 2005 George Takei, who portrayed helmsman Lt. Hikaru Sulu, came out as gay. In October 2011, Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in the rebooted feature film franchise, publicly came out as gay. He explained that, after the suicide of bisexual teenager
Jamey Rodemeyer James T. Rodemeyer (March 21, 1997 - September 18, 2011) was an American teenager known for his activism against homophobia and his videos on YouTube to help victims of homophobic bullying. Personal life Jamey Rodemeyer lived with his parent ...
, he realized "that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality." Roddenberry once spoke of overcoming his own homophobia. In a 1991 interview with ''The Humanist'', he remarked: According to ''The Advocate'', Roddenberry promised that in the then-upcoming fifth season of ''TNG'', gay crew members would appear on the show. Other stars of the franchise chimed in, with
Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the ''Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, then ...
(who played
Spock Spock is a Character (arts), fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS ''Enterprise ...
) offering his support in a 1991 letter to the ''Los Angeles Times'' saying, "It is entirely fitting that gays and lesbians will appear unobtrusively aboard the ''Enterprise''—neither objects of pity nor melodramatic attention." Roddenberry died soon after his interviews and the announced plans to have a gay crew member on ''TNG'' never materialized. Control of the ''Star Trek'' franchise fell to Rick Berman. While no gay crew members appeared on ''TNG'', "The Outcast" was one episode that was intended to address the subject of sexual discrimination in the ''Star Trek'' universe. The episode featured Soren, a member of an androgynous race called the J'naii, who find the concept of gender primitive and offensive. Soren, unlike most others of her race, reveals to Commander Riker that she is inclined toward a female identity and is attracted to him. Riker and Soren begin a secret romantic relationship, and when her people discover this, she is arrested and subjected to "psychotectic therapy", by which she has all elements of gender eliminated, and loses her attraction to Riker. The episode was met with both praise and criticism from the LGBT community. In the case of the latter, criticism came from people who felt that it sanctioned the brainwashing therapy to which Soren was subjected, and others who felt that the creative staff abdicated their responsibility to exploring the issue. Actor Jonathan Frakes, who played Riker, also commented that the episode was not daring enough, in that Soren, who was played by
Melinda Culea Melinda Culea (born May 5, 1955) is an American actress. Early life Culea was born on May 5, 1955, in Western Springs, Illinois. She worked as a model before acting.Dangaard, Colin (1983) "Melinda Culea: The Struggle Goes on", ''Milwaukee J ...
, should have been more evidently male. In a 2008 interview, ''Trek'' writer
Ronald D. Moore Ronald Dowl Moore (born July 5, 1964) is an American screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for his work on ''Star Trek''; on the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' television series, for which he won a Peabody Award and an Em ...
responded to a question of why there were few gay characters in science fiction in general and none on ''Star Trek'':
We've just failed at it. It's not been something we've successfully done. At ''Star Trek'' we used to have all these stock answers for why we didn't do it. The truth is it was not really a priority for any of us on the staff so it wasn't really something that was strong on anybody's radar. And then I think there's a certain inertia that you're not used to writing those characters into these dramas and then you just don't. And somebody has to decide that it's important before you do it and I think we're still at the place where that's not yet a common – yeah, we have to include this and this is an important thing to include in the shows. Sci-fi for whatever reason is just sort of behind the curve on all this.
In 2002, Kate Mulgrew (who played
Captain Janeway Kathryn Janeway is a fictional character in the '' Star Trek'' franchise. She was the Captain of the Starfleet starship USS ''Voyager'' (on '' Star Trek: Voyager'') while it was lost in the Delta Quadrant on the other side of the galaxy. After r ...
) gave an interview to ''Metrosource'' where she spoke candidly about the issue of LGBT characters in the ''Star Trek'' television universe:
Because of its both political and potentially incendiary substance. I'm in a minority as well, as a woman. It took a lot of courage on their part to hire a woman. I think that right up until the end they were very dubious about it. It's one thing to cast a subordinate black, Asian, or woman, but to put them in a leading role means the solid endorsement of one of the largest studios in the world. And that goes for a gay character as well. It requires a terrific social conscience on their part and the pledge of some solidarity and unanimity, which I think is probably at the source of most of this problem to get every one of those executives on board regarding this decision.
That same year Mulgrew stated in an August 2002 interview for '' Out in America'':
Well, one would think that Hollywood would be more open-minded at this point, since essentially the whole town is run by the gay community. It makes very little sense if you think about it. No, ''Star Trek'' is very strangely by the book in this regard. Rick Berman, who is a very sagacious man, has been very firm about certain things. I've approached him many, many times over the years about getting a gay character on the show--one whom we could really love, not just a guest star. Y'know, we had blacks, Asians, we even had a handicapped character--and so I thought, this is now beginning to look a bit absurd. And he said, "In due time." And so, I'm suspecting that on ''Enterprise'' they will do something to this effect. I couldn't get it done on mine. And I am sorry for that.
In a 1990 ''Next Generation'' episode, " The Offspring", Data creates Lal, an android daughter, and the other crew members seek to explain humanoid sexuality to her. According to ''TNG'' research consultant Richard Arnold, Whoopi Goldberg refused to deliver her character's dialog with a strictly heterosexual explanation:
According to the script, Guinan was supposed to start telling Lal, "When a man and a woman are in love..." and in the background, there would be men and women sitting at tables, holding hands. But Whoopi refused to say that. She said, "This show is beyond that. It should be 'When two people are in love.'"
Brannon Braga in 2011 spoke about the
...constant back and forth about "Well, how do we portray the spectrum of sexuality?" There were people who felt very strongly that we should be showing casually, you know, just two guys together in the background in Ten Forward. At the time the decision was made not to do that and I think those same people would make a different decision now because I think, you know, that was 1989, well yeah about 89, 90, 91. I have no doubt that those same creative players wouldn't feel so hesitant to have, you know, have been squeamish about a decision like that.
Suggesting that ''TNG'' in particular was under pressure from affiliates to be a "family show", Braga characterized the decision not to include LGBT characters as "not a forward thinking decision". Braga alluded to some episodes of ''TNG'' and one ''DS9'' episode featuring Dax as dealing with non-heterosexuality metaphorically. Star Trek ''TNG'' did include a number of male members of the crew wearing mini-skirts (referred to as a skant), this was not further developed to explore whether this was a simple uniform choice or an expression of gender.
J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as ''Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' For ...
, who
rebooted ''Rebooted'' is the third season of the computer-animated television series '' Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu'' (titled ''Ninjago'' from the eleventh season onward). The series was created by Michael Hegner and Tommy Andreasen. The season aired f ...
the franchise with 2009's ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'', said in 2011 that he was "frankly shocked that in the history of ''Star Trek'' there have never been gay characters in all the series". Including a gay character in the next film "was not in the list of my priorities to try to figure out how to make this movie in the best possible way. But it will now be in the hopper." Abrams did not commit to including an identifiably non-heterosexual character but did commit to bringing the idea to the writers. Ultimately, '' Star Trek Into Darkness'' did not include an identifiably LGBT character. On July 7, 2016, it was announced that the film '' Star Trek Beyond'' would portray Hikaru Sulu as being in a same-sex relationship raising a daughter. This would make him the first main openly gay character in the ''Star Trek'' film franchise. Although George Takei was delighted that there was a gay character, he thought it was unfortunate that it was Sulu as it was not in keeping with what Gene Roddenberry would have wanted. The 2017 series '' Star Trek: Discovery'' introduced Paul Stamets and
Hugh Culber Hugh Culber is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. He appears in the television program, television series ''Star Trek: Discovery''. Culber is portrayed by actor Wilson Cruz. Originally introduced as a recurring character in the ...
as the first openly gay characters in a ''Star Trek'' television series, as well as the first to be in a same-sex marriage. The show was criticized for killing-off Culber, and his death was seen as another example of the "bury your gays" trope. In ''Discoverys second season, recurring character Jett Reno mentioned that she was married, but her wife died in a war. The actors portraying all three roles— Anthony Rapp (Stamets),
Wilson Cruz Wilson Cruz (born Wilson Echevarría; December 27, 1973) is an American actor known for playing Rickie Vasquez on ''My So-Called Life'', Angel in the Broadway tour production of ''Rent (musical), Rent'', Hugh Culber, Dr. Hugh Culber on ''Star Tr ...
(Culber), and Tig Notaro (Reno)—are openly gay. ''Discovery'''s third season introduced Adira Tal, a non-binary character who was in a relationship with Gray Tal, a
transgender man A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. The label of transgender man is not always interchangeable with that of transsexual man, although the two labels are often used in this way. ''Transgender'' is an umbrella term that inclu ...
and the former host of Adira's Trill symbiont, Tal. Gray was killed in a flashback, leading to Adira hosting the symbiont and later being able to interact with Gray's consciousness. In the fourth season of ''Discovery'', Gray's consciousness is put into an android body. In the first-season finale of '' Star Trek: Picard'',
Seven of Nine Seven of Nine (born Annika Hansen) is a fictional character introduced in the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: Voyager''. Portrayed by Jeri Ryan, she is a former Borg drone who joins the crew of the Federation starship ' ...
and Raffi are seen holding hands, clasping fingers romantically. In the finale of the second season, Seven and Raffi kiss. In the '' Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'' episode "Spock Amok",
Christine Chapel Christine Chapel is a fictional character who appears in all three seasons of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek: The Original Series'', as well as '' Star Trek: The Animated Series'' and the films '' Star Trek: The Motion ...
is confirmed to have been in a relationship with a woman in the past. In the episode "The Serene Squall", the antagonist Captain Angel, played by transgender actress
Jesse James Keitel Jesse James Keitel is an American actress, writer, and artist, known for starring in Asher Jelinsky's award-winning short film '' Miller & Son'' (2019), the ABC crime drama '' Big Sky'' (2020) and on '' Queer as Folk'' (2022). Early life Jess ...
, is non-binary; the episode was also directed by Navajo transgender filmmaker
Sydney Freeland Sydney Freeland (born October 10, 1980) is a Navajo filmmaker. She wrote and directed the short film ''Hoverboard'' (2012) and the film ''Drunktown's Finest'' (2014), which garnered numerous acclaims after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. ...
.


Notable episodes

; " Blood and Fire" (''TNG'') "Blood and Fire" was commissioned to be written by David Gerrold but never actually filmed. Gerrold has stated that while many of the ''TNG'' cast and crew (including Roddenberry) were supportive of the storyline, the script's positive depiction of an openly gay couple met stiff opposition from the studio and the script never made it into production. ; "
The Outcast Outcast or Outcasts may refer to: *Outcast (person), a person with social stigma or untouchability Literature * ''Outcast'' (Ballas novel), 1991 book by Iraqi-Israeli author Shimon Ballas * ''Outcast'' (Sutcliff novel), 1955 children's novel by R ...
" (''TNG'') In 1992, the episode titled "
The Outcast Outcast or Outcasts may refer to: *Outcast (person), a person with social stigma or untouchability Literature * ''Outcast'' (Ballas novel), 1991 book by Iraqi-Israeli author Shimon Ballas * ''Outcast'' (Sutcliff novel), 1955 children's novel by R ...
" is a story in which Commander
William Riker William Thomas "Will" Riker is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' universe appearing primarily as a main character in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''. Throughout the series and its accompanying films, he is the ''Enterprise''s first ...
( Jonathan Frakes) falls in love with Soren, a member of the androgynous J'naii species that views the expression of gender, especially sexual liaisons, as a
sexual perversion Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as sexual interest in anything ot ...
. When the affair between Riker and Soren is discovered, the J'naii force Soren to undergo "psychotectic" therapy. Soren gets the chance to defend one's right to love regardless of sex, gender or lack thereof. Soren was played by actress
Melinda Culea Melinda Culea (born May 5, 1955) is an American actress. Early life Culea was born on May 5, 1955, in Western Springs, Illinois. She worked as a model before acting.Dangaard, Colin (1983) "Melinda Culea: The Struggle Goes on", ''Milwaukee J ...
, and all of the main J'naii characters were played by women, a creative decision criticized by Frakes, who commented that the episode was not daring enough in that Soren should have been more evidently male.


Other examples

* In the book ''A Stitch in Time'' and in an Amazon.com interview, the actor Andrew Robinson stated that he played Garak as being bisexual, while at other times he stated that he felt that Garak was
pansexual , meaning "all" , definition = Sexual or romantic attraction to people regardless of gender , classification = Sexual identity , parent = Bisexuality , synonyms = , associated_terms = Polysexual, queer, heterofl ...
, meaning that he loved people regardless of their gender. * In Star Trek Enterprise, Dr
Phlox ''Phlox'' (; Greek φλόξ "flame"; plural "phlox" or "phloxes", Greek φλόγες ''phlóges'') is a genus of 67 species of perennial and annual plants in the family Polemoniaceae. They are found mostly in North America (one in Siberia) in di ...
is in a polyamourous relationship with three wives.


Outside ''Star Trek'' canon

Instructions for authors that had previously wished to write officially licensed ''Star Trek'' spin-off books stated that there was to be no suggestion of a relationship "other than friendship" between crew members, but this restriction no longer applies. In a seeming response to reams of Kirk/Spock
fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF) is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, settin ...
which began to dominate fan publications in the mid- to late 1970s, references to bisexuality occurred in
Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter, producer, and creator of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'', its sequel spin-off series ''Star Trek: The Animated Series,'' and ''Sta ...
's 1979 novelization of '' Star Trek: The Motion Picture''. In a foreword written by James Kirk, the Captain cleverly avoids confirmation or denial of a romantic relationship with Spock.


Fan response

In 1972, ''Grup'', the first sexually themed ''Star Trek'' zine was published, to controversy in the fandom. In 1974 the first published ''Star Trek''
slash fiction Slash fiction (also known as "m/m slash") is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on romantic or sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex.Bacon-Smith, Camille. "Spock Among the Women." New York Times Sunday Book Review, ...
was presented in ''Grup #3''. Kirk/Spock fan fiction was the first prominent slash pairing. In 2005 Craig Young of
GayNZ.com GayNZ.com is a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community website for New Zealand. Prior to the websites closure in 2018, it posted daily local and international news stories, monitors fundamentalist Christian politics in New Zealand a ...
criticized the absence of any out core or supporting lesbian or gay characters from the various television series and films, although granting that the series was more inclusive of
transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
issues through the narrative use of the
Trill TRILL (Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links) is an Internet Standard implemented by devices called TRILL switches. TRILL combines techniques from bridging and routing, and is the application of link-state routing to the VLAN-aware custom ...
species and non-consecutive gender symbiosis. He argued that the continued invisibility and absence of such characters may well have led to growing rejection of the ''Trek'' franchise and spin-off media by gay and lesbian Trekkers. He compared it unfavorably to series like ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'', ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
'' and '' Babylon 5''. The fan made ''Star Trek'': The Web Comic, started in 2014, has published two story lines featuring LGBT characters. The first serial, "No Good Deed", involves an affair between the male captain and first officer. Science Fiction news site Io9's review of the comic said it tread ground the franchise rarely did, stating: "What's especially refreshing is that aptain Madison'shomosexuality is a part of his character, but not a focus of the plot."


See also

*
Pon farr ''Pon farr'' is a phenomenon in the fictional ''Star Trek'' universe. A part of the reproductive cycle of Vulcans, ''pon farr'' features in the canonical television series as well as in various spin-offs and fan fiction. An extreme physical and p ...
*
Sex and sexuality in speculative fiction Sexual themes are frequently used in science fiction or related genres. Such elements may include depictions of realistic sexual interactions in a science fictional setting, a protagonist with an alternative sexuality, a sexual encounter betwee ...
* LGBT themes in speculative fiction *
Single-gender world A relatively common motif in speculative fiction is the existence of single-gender worlds or single-sex societies. These fictional societies have long been one of the primary ways to explore implications of gender and gender-differences in scien ...
s *
List of LGBT-themed speculative fiction Many science fiction and fantasy stories involve LGBT characters, or otherwise represent themes that are relevant to LGBT issues and the LGBT community. This is a list of notable stories, and/or stories from notable series or anthologies, and/ ...
*
List of television shows with LGBT characters These Lists of television programs with LGBT characters include: Characters * List of bisexual characters in television * List of gay characters in television * List of lesbian characters in television * List of transgender characters in televisi ...


References


Further reading

* * * * Good Sex and Star Trek: Where Few Women Have Gone before By: Putnam, Amanda. pp. 171–86 IN: Malcolm, Cheryl Alexander (ed. and introd.); Nyman, Jopi (ed. and introd.); Ickstadt, Heinz (foreword); eros.usa: Essays on the Culture and Literature of Desire. Gdansk, Poland: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdanskiego; 2005. * GenerAsians: Transgressive Sexuality and Transformations of Identity By: Dariotis, Wei Ming; Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 2001 May; 61 (11): 4384. U of California, Santa Barbara, 2000. * * * * Lamb, Patricia Frazer. “Romantic Myth, Transcendence, and ''Star Trek'' Zines”, in ''Erotic Universe: Sexuality and Fantastic Literature'', ed. Donald Palumbo. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1986, pp. 235–55. *


External links


Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual ''Star Trek''
— fan site with background information and news articles about lack of gay/lesbian characters in ''Star Trek'' *

''Boston Herald'' (2003) *

''The Nation'' (2002)
"Gay Trek"
Salon (2001)

(now via archive.org, original article expired)
''Star Trek'': The Web Comic Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sexuality In Star Trek Star Trek
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...