Please, kids, no speculation on closeted writers. Besides it being none of our business, it's just plain rude trying to out someone who doesn't want to come out just yet.
LGBT Characters in Trek (Help and no flames Please)
- Thread starter neogothboy74
- Start date
Agreed.
Hopefully one day the more radical elements will also realize this.
In particular, I only answered the question of who was openly GLBT as writers.
I certainly have heard of others, but since they are not open, I'm not saying.
Hopefully one day the dissipation of the more radical elements of hatred in our society will allow people to express their affection without fear.
I certainly have heard of others, but since they are not open, I'm not saying.
Hopefully one day the dissipation of the more radical elements of hatred in our society will allow people to express their affection without fear.
They're discussing the rumours of a new Star Trek TV series - including the rumours that it will include two gay characters - over at AfterElton.com.
http://www.afterelton.com/tv/gay-star-trek-tv-series
http://www.afterelton.com/tv/gay-star-trek-tv-series
For the record, there's at least one openly LGBT writer not on Andy's list:
Former Deep Space Nine writer and Voyager co-producer (and creator of Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, and Pushing Daisies) Bryan Fuller is openly gay.
Former Deep Space Nine writer and Voyager co-producer (and creator of Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, and Pushing Daisies) Bryan Fuller is openly gay.
DOA
Well, was David Gerrold open about his sexual orientation when he wrote "The Trouble With Tribbles?" If he counts even though he was closeted when he wrote his Trek installment, so too should Takei.
^Well, for the sake of accuracy, we should also include Gerrold's other Trek credits: "More Tribbles, More Troubles," "BEM," Bantam's The Galactic Whirlpool, and the novelization of "Encounter at Farpoint." (And an uncredited rewrite on "I, Mudd" -- and in an ideal world he'd get co-creator credit for TNG along with Bob Justman and D. C. Fontana.) I think those were all before Gerrold came out publicly, though. I don't know how long he was out privately before that. (As I understand it, "coming out" doesn't mean announcing one's orientation to the world, but rather means accepting one's orientation and choosing to live according to it, whether one publicizes the fact or not.)
I get the impression he didn't come out publicly until "The Martian Child" hit the stands. Although, in retrospect, certain aspects of "The Man Who Folded Himself" make a whole lot more sense now...
Note that I use the phrase "openly GLBT people" NOT "out" people. To me, "openly gay" means that it is not avoided in print, in book bios, in interviews, in public speaking, in biographies, and etc., especially if asked. "Openly gay" means that the person is not afraid to talk about their significant others, or to be public about their relationships, or their friends and associations, in the same manner that heterosexuals do.
Gerrold was not openly gay as a writer until Martian Child to my understanding, which was 1995.
Takei was not openly gay until 2005.
Sci is right: I had forgotten about Bryan Fuller, who also was openly gay after he left Trek. Interestingly enough, in researching him, I came across this tidbit on more gay Trek stuff that got squashed...
http://www.afterelton.com/blog/jame...y-pushing-daisies-character-steals-our-hearts
Fuller said he puts up a mental “orange cone” when it comes to gay and lesbian characters that have already been explored. It’s one of the reasons he wasn’t so excited about a “gay” script that was rattling around for Star Trek: Voyager when he was part of that show.
Gerrold was not openly gay as a writer until Martian Child to my understanding, which was 1995.
Takei was not openly gay until 2005.
Sci is right: I had forgotten about Bryan Fuller, who also was openly gay after he left Trek. Interestingly enough, in researching him, I came across this tidbit on more gay Trek stuff that got squashed...
http://www.afterelton.com/blog/jame...y-pushing-daisies-character-steals-our-hearts
Fuller said he puts up a mental “orange cone” when it comes to gay and lesbian characters that have already been explored. It’s one of the reasons he wasn’t so excited about a “gay” script that was rattling around for Star Trek: Voyager when he was part of that show.
“There was a pregnant ensign – Ensign Wildman – and she was going to have gay godparents to her child,” said Fuller, explaining the show’s potential plotline - that never got made. But Fuller found the characters so two-dimensional that he wasn’t disappointed it didn’t air: “It sounds weird to say – but I was kind of glad they didn’t do it the way it was written. Because it became really cliché.”
I find it annoying whenever I read about someone talking about how they avoided doing something "cliche" with a gay character, but they don't take the effort to do something "uncliched".
I have no idea what the gay godparents cliche problem was, but at that point any positive gay visibility on ST would have meant the world to me. So thanks for taking that away from me, Fuller. It's not like there aren't many many hetero cliche characters all over the place, but it seems like there has to be an incredibly good reason to use a gay character, instead of gays just popping up naturally just like we do in real life. Instead of writing out the gay couple, why not do a rewrite to inject some personality and life into them? It's not like there weren't two dimensional supporting characters ever showing up on ST.
I think a half way decent write could've done something interesting with a gay couple even in a minor role on Star Trek. Just having them there, to show that gays are there and fully accepted would've been important socially, just as Uhura's prescence on the bridge of the original series was important socially.
I have no idea what the gay godparents cliche problem was, but at that point any positive gay visibility on ST would have meant the world to me. So thanks for taking that away from me, Fuller. It's not like there aren't many many hetero cliche characters all over the place, but it seems like there has to be an incredibly good reason to use a gay character, instead of gays just popping up naturally just like we do in real life. Instead of writing out the gay couple, why not do a rewrite to inject some personality and life into them? It's not like there weren't two dimensional supporting characters ever showing up on ST.
I think a half way decent write could've done something interesting with a gay couple even in a minor role on Star Trek. Just having them there, to show that gays are there and fully accepted would've been important socially, just as Uhura's prescence on the bridge of the original series was important socially.
^It sounds like Fuller didn't actually have any input himself at that stage as to whether to edit the writing for it.
If a new Star Trek series is going to have a gay character then they should have that character's partner/husband/wife on the show as well and show a real relationship, not just an "oh look, we have a gay character now, satisfied?" mentality to it. GLBT couples have just as much drama as hetero couples.
Without going into details, my wife is bisexual and I am straight. Her ex-girlfriend is now with a woman who is transitioning (I think that's the right term-du-jour) and they have just as many issues as any other couple I know.
I also think that polygamy should be shown as well, and not just the alien pseudo-polygamous allegories as we had with Denobulans and Bolians. There are GLBT and polygamous couples and groups in the world so it should be shown like everything else. I remember hearing about The L Word, a television show about lesbians and the relationship issues they have. Where was The G Word? It appears to be a double standard.
If a new Star Trek series is going to have a gay character then they should have that character's partner/husband/wife on the show as well and show a real relationship, not just an "oh look, we have a gay character now, satisfied?" mentality to it. GLBT couples have just as much drama as hetero couples.
Without going into details, my wife is bisexual and I am straight. Her ex-girlfriend is now with a woman who is transitioning (I think that's the right term-du-jour) and they have just as many issues as any other couple I know.
I also think that polygamy should be shown as well, and not just the alien pseudo-polygamous allegories as we had with Denobulans and Bolians. There are GLBT and polygamous couples and groups in the world so it should be shown like everything else. I remember hearing about The L Word, a television show about lesbians and the relationship issues they have. Where was The G Word? It appears to be a double standard.
Preach on!
Been there, done that (it was a more casual thing than full on relationship let alone marriage) and got the very fond memories
Or, as the Deltans call it, Thursday.
Yeah, but she swore that we'd never have a threesome
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