She loved that Trill Simbiont enough to do things to Riker. RIKER! That's a huge adjustment that did not phase her at all. The new female host was instantly rejected, without, even having a date without sex, to see if they still had chemistry. Did Bev ask Dee's permission to mount Riker? That seems like a girlcode violation.
Personally, I am unconcerned with a character's sexuality. It is probably the least interesting facet for me of a character in most non-romantic setting of shows and films. That said, if they did, OK, fine. Just let it be a part of the character, rather than a defining trait.
Having ones own sexual preferences is not homophobia or transphobia. Everybody is entitled to say no to / not be attracted to whoever they want. As for Riker...having sex with him seemed a little weird for her but wasn't a deal breaker. Read from that what you will. Picard Frenched it up!
Riker only submitted to being a boytoy gimp, because Beverly swore black and Blue that she Loved this fellah perfectly and eternally. Riker is the truly besmirched party.
Riker, I am sure, is a generous lover, open to everyone. With Odan, I do not read Beverly's rejection as homophobic. Leaving aside the likelihood that she was just not into women, that female host was the third Odan host in a couple of weeks. She would be justified in thinking that all this was just too much for her, that there was too much instability in basic elements of Odan's identity for a relationship to be viable.
I would note that Jeri Taylor did claim to try to have a non-straight Seven. https://www.google.com/amp/s/comicb...en-of-nine-lgbtq-lesbian-confirmed-jeri-ryan/ Seven sexuality is now firmly set as bi-sexual, having had both male and female lovers. That's a big change from when Voyager was airing in the late '90s; at the time, producer Jeri Taylor actually admitted to TV Guide that they had dropped the ball with Seven of Nine as a potential LGBTQ character: "The idea is something I’m absolutely sympathetic with, and I have tried several times to do it. But for various reasons there has been opposition, and it gradually became clear that this is a fight I could not win." Would it be wrong to blame Berman? I doubt it. Kirsten Beyer is a huge Voyager fan, especially professionally. She would surely know about this debate. She has also written, in her novels, Icheb as interested in a same-sex relationship. She has also written this episode.
^ Riker's loving is open to everyone. Oh yeah. (There have been arguments that he might conceivably be pansexual. I just prefer to think that gender, for Riker, might not be that important a thing in some circumstances.)
Bajayzl's club was of as-yet indeterminate Frenchness. What do French clubs look like? Seven's sexuality just made the character that much cooler for me. I don't know if she's bi or pan or whatever Jack Harkness was, but I don't think she can be outright gay given she had feelings deep enough for man that they nearly killed her. I wonder what some of the lasting effects of the Collective experience might be. Could it influence an asexuality on its Ex-B's or pan, from which you would have to discover/rediscover your individual nature?
With an intelligent, passionate, powerful, and near immortal sentient energy being living inside a candle. Also, Kira's soulmate was a bucket of goo? Keats was seduced by a space-vampire. Apollo, toga and all, was an alien. Uh...yeah.
That Vibrated and could appear anywhere she wanted. Kira's soulmate could assume any shape she desired and didn't need an extension cord or batteries.
Same here. Being betrayed by a friend can be every bit as painful as being betrayed by a lover. And this is one of the reasons I don't think they were lovers: Agreed. Bjayzl strikes me as someone sadistic enough to use any and every available weapon against Seven when the chance presented itself. If they were exes, she would have twisted that knife as brutally as she possibly could. She certainly didn't hold back with what we saw in the episode. Having said all that, if Seven is (canonically) lesbian / bi that would be perfectly okay - so long as it didn't become the only thing her character is about. That never turns out well. I couldn't possibly agree more with this. I agree with the rest of your post as well, but this bit in particular bears repeating. If indeed there was any intent for Seven to be lesbian or bi back in the day, it wouldn't have been the writers lacking "cohones". The UPN suits would have been the ones quashing anything along those lines, as they quashed so many other things that the writers tried to work into the show. Seven: After they brought you back from your time in the Collective, do you honestly feel that you've regained your humanity? Picard: Yes. Seven: All of it? Picard: No... But we're both working on it, aren't we? Seven: Every damn day of my life. How anyone can fail to see any value in that exchange absolutely beggars belief, but anyway. Each to their own.