Do you think LGBT characters will feature more prominently?

[Sgt_G]

No, not "always", but yes some people do have an agenda. Take James Duff for example. He flat out stated it was his goal in life to insert a LGBT character in every show he writes for. If that's not an agenda, what do you call it? And then he proceeded to start his campaign by creating one of the most unlikable character on cable TV (Rusty in Major Crimes). Other writers have said they feel pressured to include such characters or risk having their works rejected. As I said, I really don't care one way or the other, but again to consider the setting of 200+ years in the future, just how are they going to handle the plot lines? Given the current trends and track record, I expect it will be heavy-handed. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Rusty is awful.

I thought it was because the actor was so damn unattractive, but it's deeper than that.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

All fanfic I write I insert at least one LGBT character into it, same way I make humans a minority onboard ships I create, and break the apparent Trek rule that there can't be more than three women in the 'cast'.

 

[m.lp.ql.m]

... and an Oriental in the cast...

Oriental?

 

[RandyS]

Oriental?

I don't get it.What's wrong with saying oriental? It's been used for decades if not centuries.

 

[borgboy]

My understanding is that it's more polite and/or accurate to refer to people as Asian.
Carpets are Oriental, people are Asian.
I don't know why, but that's how it is.

 

[Guy Gardener]

It's mostly because of how the word was used by assholes in the past.

Orient means the direction East.

Asia is a continent.

 

[Sgt_G]

Actually, I've been told that "Asian" refers to people from central Asia, mainly Pakistan, Afghanistan and the other 'Stans; whereas "Oriental" meaning "from the East" refers to people from Japan / Korea / China / Vietnam / Cambodia /etc..

 

[RandyS]

Actually, I've been told that "Asian" refers to people from central Asia, mainly Pakistan, Afghanistan and the other 'Stans; whereas "Oriental" meaning "from the East" refers to people from Japan / Korea / China / Vietnam / Cambodia /etc..

Yes, this is what I thought too which is why I was confused as to how it suddenly became offensive. "Oriental" simply refers to people from the orient.

Or so I thought.

 

[Guy Gardener]

The rules changed.

The N word use to be perfectly acceptable.

The origin of that world is Latin for black.

How is Latin offensive?

 

[Sgt_G]

It's the Spanish word, not Latin, for the color "black". And what's dorked up is some on-line translators will not convert "black" from English to Spanish even if it's perfectly "safe" in context, e.g., "We had a black cat named Merlyn."

 

[Guy Gardener]

Google says "Negro" is Portuguese and Spanish, but the Portuguese and Spaniards got Negro from the Romans.

Sorry for not showing my work, but Latin was funnier.

A lot of the English speaking world decided that Oriental is an undesirable level of offensiveness (even if it isn't.), so you can individually argue with (literally) a billion (figurative) sheep until they accept that you are right and they are wrong, or you can just let this one go.

I'm realizing that I have a box of Oriental flavoured 2 minute Noodles in my larder.

I was offended by a slur a few weeks ago because I did not completely understand what was being said to me.

I was called a "fucking Nilla" because assumptions were made by a polyamourite I was talking to.

I worked out incorrectly that the root to that slur was Nill, which means zero, and that somehow made sense... A week later I facepalm, realizing that he was calling me Vanilla.

 

[Anna Yolei]

Actually, I've been told that "Asian" refers to people from central Asia, mainly Pakistan, Afghanistan and the other 'Stans; whereas "Oriental" meaning "from the East" refers to people from Japan / Korea / China / Vietnam / Cambodia /etc..

Huh. It could be a regional thing. I live in California and grew up near SF, so Asian to us is what is considered Oriental to the UK. I did meet a Vietnamese girl who preferred the term Oriental to Asian, but it wasn't common parlance where I'm from.

 

[Sgt_G]

All fanfic I write I insert at least one LGBT character into it,

That's fine. I probably won't ever have such a character in any of my fiction, but only because I try to write stories I would feel comfortable letting young teens / tweens read. I don't get my characters into situations where their orientation needs to be explained. Even if I did include an LGBT character, it would probably be mentioned in passing and not a central theme of the story. Again, it's two-hundred-plus years in the future, so why would it be an issue anymore than the color of a character's skin should be an issue?

same way I make humans a minority onboard ships I create,

Well, as I've told you before, I disagree with this one. I don't want just a token Vulcan/Andorian/Tellarite/whatnot in the crew, but a few/several of a few different non-human species. However, I feel humans by their nature are explorers and community builders; thus should be 1/2 to 2/3 of the crew.

and break the apparent Trek rule that there can't be more than three women in the 'cast'.

Oh, but of course. That's a stupid "rule". I want at least 1/3 of the crew to be women, and several of my female characters have very strong story lines.

 

[Kemaiku]

You know most LGBTQ start becoming aware of their identities by the age you stated so...protecting them from learning about themselves?

 

[Guy Gardener]

Your spell check can be used to reverse some of the pronouns and adjust the proper nouns, after you have saved someone else's straight fanfiction, until suddenly Kirk is making out with a him who is a boy instead of a she who is a girl.

 

[dregj]

my adolescence was filled with kirk spock
ponn farr stories

 

[Guy Gardener]

There was more heat between Spock and McCoy.

 

[Sgt_G]

You know most LGBTQ start becoming aware of their identities by the age you stated so...protecting them from learning about themselves?

And why is it my job to teach them? Especially, as a straight male, I have no clue how to describe their lives properly. Besides, what one 12-year-old can handle is too much for another 12-year-old, or even many 14-15 year olds. I just choose to not go there.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

That's fine. I probably won't ever have such a character in any of my fiction, but only because I try to write stories I would feel comfortable letting young teens / tweens read. I don't get my characters into situations where their orientation needs to be explained. Even if I did include an LGBT character, it would probably be mentioned in passing and not a central theme of the story. Again, it's two-hundred-plus years in the future, so why would it be an issue anymore than the color of a character's skin should be an issue?

You're right in that by the time of Trek it's a non-issue, and the only time it becomes of any relevance to plot is if I decide to have a storyline that includes them having a dalliance with someone on the planet/ship/station they visit or someone onboard for a little 'recreation', just like it would be for any other character (such as Captain Reihyn and Lieutenant D'Kehra falling into bed together, or Captain Leijten rekindling an old romance with Sector Quartermaster Mitchell), there's never anything explicit.

I personally believe that the more young people see/read non-straight relationships and characters the more "normalised" until it becomes that non-issue, so not having examples of it is just prolonging the ignorance and stigma associated with LGBT. If I were to have a "gay agenda" it would be that, showing relationships of all kinds in order to promote acceptance.

I have no clue how to describe their lives properly.

Simple. "People love people, sometimes that's a man and a woman, sometimes a woman and a woman, or a man and a man. The world won't end because of it, they're happy in their own lives, which is what we should all be so lucky to find--so it's not our place to pass judgement. Now who wants ice cream?"