Gay Crew members

[Guardian452]

Does anyone think there is a chance that the next Star Trek movie will have any gay crew members?

Star Trek is over forty years old, and most shows on tv have had a gay cast member even as a walk on. Wouldn't it be logical that one of the characters for the next movie, even one of the less important characters, would be gay?

 

[Char Aznable]

Sure. Why not?

 

[BillJ]

If it's not relevant to the story... what's the point? Or do you just want a token there for the sake of being there?

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

What's "most shows"? And would simply a walk-on suffice, like most shows that DO have a gay character allow? Someone who's not part of the main cast and therefore not terribly "important" (I'm thinking of Lost especially here, with Tom Friendly.) There's really not a lot of shows on that have one as a main cast member.

Also I don't know why everyone wants the "I want to see me up there!" thing going on.

I certainly don't want anyone like me up there. I want real heroes that do more things than just watch TV!

But otherwise, yeah, gay or not, it doesn't change anything as far as I'm concerned. As long as it's some forced "we need to create one for the sake of creating one!"
Heck, O'brien and Bashir from DS9 were close enough. I'll say we already had a couple.

 

[Char Aznable]

That's a good point also. TPTB shouldn't have to feel morally obligated to do anyting apart from telling kickass stories with the crew of the Enterprise.

 

[Ensign Johnson]

I would have liked to see a gay character on one of the series, well 2 would be better really. *cough*Janeway/Seven*cough* Star Trek had a lot of gay subtext but it isn't the same. TV shows don't really seem fussed on showing minorities probably because they aren't the target audience, except for shows like the L word seeing the gap in the market.

 

[number6]

I don't care about seeing a Gay character or not. If it serves the story, then fine, but to have someone there for its own sake is just silly. I've worked with many people of various orientations and it never matters when people conduct themselves professionally in a professional environment.

 

[BooThePun]

How do you know we didn't? Unless they came onto the bridge and announced "I'm gay" we never would know.

What you're really asking is whether we'll have a gay sex scene in the next movie.

Probably not.

 

[DevilEyes]

If it's not relevant to the story... what's the point? Or do you just want a token there for the sake of being there?

What's the point of all the heterosexuality on various shows? Was it relevant to the story, or just there for the sake of being there?

There have been numerous one-shot (and sometimes longer) romances on all the shows. Why couldn't some of them been between people of the same gender? Was the heterosexuality of those relationships "relevant to the story"? Only in cases that involved reproduction and children (e.g. Worf and K'Ehleyr, Trip and T'Pol). Most of Trek romances didn't, therefore the heterosexuality wasn't relevant to the story. So why must homosexuality be?

How do you know we didn't? Unless they came onto the bridge and announced "I'm gay" we never would know.

Erm, by seeing them in (or at least having them refer to) a relationship with a person of the same gender? I don't remember anyone in Trek coming into the bridge and announcing "I'm straight" either.

You want to know how you do it? Caprica, for instance, has a character who who never announced "I am gay" and nobody on the show called him "gay" or "homosexual" (for all we know, those terms might not even exist in their society), but he is married to a man, and casually refers to hitting on guys in his youth while his brother was hitting on their sisters. And nobody on the show bats an eyelid about it, it's treated as completely normal and everyday thing. That's enough to convey that their society has a different attitude towards homosexuality than ours does. It's not even the defining characteristic of the character, it doesn't affect his "storylines", he is not "the gay guy", he is Joseph Adama's macho gangster brother, and his sexual orientation is just another feature of the character that is not an issue in itself.

 

[Ensign Johnson]

One of the things I liked about "Rejoined" on DS9 was the way it was a non-issue that it was 2 women, but I would have liked to see Jadzia date a woman she wasn't married to in a past life.

 

[T'Girl]

If it's not relevant to the story... what's the point? Or do you just want a token there for the sake of being there?

James Kirk: "Crewman, what are you doing there?"

Crewman: "Just being gay Sir."

Also I don't know why everyone wants the "I want to see me up there!" thing going on.

But isn't "I want to see me up there!" the reason we have a ship that is multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-gender? Take the extra step and also depict it as being multi-sexual orientation too.

But I don't want the gay crew member to be just the gay crew member. So how would you do it? The next JJ Abrams film will likely be fast paced. So it's unlikely that a full realized gay character can be introduced.

Possible option would be to have a established character be written as gay (please not Sulu), if the Spock/Uhura romance theme is continued those two are off the list, Kirk is more a womanizer that before, That leaves McCoy, Scott and Chekov from the last film. There's Chapel and Rand, but I think it would be more "daring" to have the new gay be male. Many of the male gays I know have said that they found Chekov attractive.

Chekov really does have the whole "twink" thing going. on.

 

[Amaris]

If it does happen, I want it to happen organically, not shoehorned in just to show that they're "hip" and "with it".

 

[Arpy]

^Hey, I'm down with the kids, daddio. {Snaps fingers}

One thing they need to keep in mind in doing it well, especially since this is the future, is for there to be no registration that there's anything unusual going on. These people haven't thought anything's out-of-the-ordinary in centuries. Might as well have Chris Pine mug for the camera for having been okay with taking orders from Admiral Tyler Perry.

So no pat on the back, hey you're gay but you're good people, pip-pip-cheerio...no hey folks this is what's cool behavior now, aren't I just extra-awesome for being an avatar of the new?

It shouldn't be a single isolated line or moment or scene in the film either either but gel smoothly with the overall feel of the film and of the age we live in...of the age they live in.

 

[Captrek]

I vote for Chekov and Keenser. They’d make a great couple.

 

[T'Girl]

So Arpy, when the gay character walks on to the bridge for the first,
you don't feel that he should loudly announce that his oath of celibacy is on file with Starfleet?

 

[DonIago]

Please. No gay guy in his right mind would sign an oath of celibacy. I propose instead that he stride proudly onto the bridge, strike a pose, and we go from Apple store to Disco lighting. Fabulous!!!

It -would- be very nice to have Trek finally acknowledge that there are gay people in its timeframe (if for no other reason than to refute Wil Wheaton's ill-considered comment about homosexuality being cured by TNG's timeframe (that's the rumor I heard and I can only hope it's either untrue or the actor has since reconsidered)), but I doubt it will happen in one of the movies.

 

[Captrek]

Early storyboard from STXII:

 

[Guardian452]

How do you know we didn't? Unless they came onto the bridge and announced "I'm gay" we never would know.

What you're really asking is whether we'll have a gay sex scene in the next movie.

Probably not.

Well thats about the most prejudice thing I've ever heard. Why does everyone think that gayness must have sex. Do heterosexual relationships or people always revolve around sex, no they do not.

In the last movie we had Spock and Uhura kissing on the transporter padd. How about two guys in a relationship, it doesn't mean that they have to have sex on the bridge of the Enterprise. I know that Lieutenant Hawk on First Contact was supposed to be gay, but the producers chickened out on having it in the story. We're not talking sex, we're just talking representation. Similar to having people of different races in a movie.

I hate it when idiots think that being gay always means sex.

 

[Mister_Atoz]

Since I am gay myself, and quite a character , I feel I aught to say something on this topic.

I'm quite satisfied with the way 'Star Trek' has handled this in the past in that they've barely touched on it at all.

I can "see myself up there" just fine without some writer trying to make a point of it, and lacing a script full of 21st century moires on the subject. They'd probably make their first gay character hot pink on one side, and blue on the other or something equally retarded. Though I was quite impressed with the subtle way Caprcia has handled their 'gay' character.

I'd like to think that their society, at least on earth, has evolved to a point where the sexual orientation of a couple isn't any more of an issue to them as an inter-racial couple might be in today's society.

Afterall, humans have encountered the Rigellians who have five genders, the J'naii who have none, as well as species such as the Denobulans and the Trill who have a more liberal interpretation of sexuality. A number of these species would almost certainly be living on earth by the 24th century. I think human views on sexuality and general would simply have to adapt.

 

[Sector 7]

If it's not relevant to the story... what's the point? Or do you just want a token there for the sake of being there?

What's the point of all the heterosexuality on various shows? Was it relevant to the story, or just there for the sake of being there?

There have been numerous one-shot (and sometimes longer) romances on all the shows. Why couldn't some of them been between people of the same gender? Was the heterosexuality of those relationships "relevant to the story"? Only in cases that involved reproduction and children (e.g. Worf and K'Ehleyr, Trip and T'Pol). Most of Trek romances didn't, therefore the heterosexuality wasn't relevant to the story. So why must homosexuality be?

How do you know we didn't? Unless they came onto the bridge and announced "I'm gay" we never would know.

Erm, by seeing them in (or at least having them refer to) a relationship with a person of the same gender? I don't remember anyone in Trek coming into the bridge and announcing "I'm straight" either.

You want to know how you do it? Caprica, for instance, has a character who who never announced "I am gay" and nobody on the show called him "gay" or "homosexual" (for all we know, those terms might not even exist in their society), but he is married to a man, and casually refers to hitting on guys in his youth while his brother was hitting on their sisters. And nobody on the show bats an eyelid about it, it's treated as completely normal and everyday thing. That's enough to convey that their society has a different attitude towards homosexuality than ours does. It's not even the defining characteristic of the character, it doesn't affect his "storylines", he is not "the gay guy", he is Joseph Adama's macho gangster brother, and his sexual orientation is just another feature of the character that is not an issue in itself.

Very well stated, DevilEyes! I could not have expressed it better myself.

So Arpy, when the gay character walks on to the bridge for the first,
you don't feel that he should loudly announce that his oath of celibacy is on file with Starfleet?

True story: During my second viewing of TMP, when that line was said someone yelled out, "Mine ain't!" This started a round of "Mine either!!" which lasted for a couple of minutes.

How do you know we didn't? Unless they came onto the bridge and announced "I'm gay" we never would know.

What you're really asking is whether we'll have a gay sex scene in the next movie.

Probably not.

Well thats about the most prejudice thing I've ever heard. Why does everyone think that gayness must have sex. Do heterosexual relationships or people always revolve around sex, no they do not.

In the last movie we had Spock and Uhura kissing on the transporter padd. How about two guys in a relationship, it doesn't mean that they have to have sex on the bridge of the Enterprise. I know that Lieutenant Hawk on First Contact was supposed to be gay, but the producers chickened out on having it in the story. We're not talking sex, we're just talking representation. Similar to having people of different races in a movie.

I hate it when idiots think that being gay always means sex.

I agree here, as well. I am gay, but I am also on record here as saying we should not have a gay character with no purpose but to announce, "I'm gay." While I would like to see someone like me on the Enterprise, I am not sure it could be done WELL in a fast paced movie environment.