Lando Calrissian's Sexuality

[The Wormhole]

Fun fact, Sulu was the only male main cast character in TOS we didn't see have some kind of romantic interlude.

Ironic then, that he's one of two TOS characters who canonically have a child, the other being Kirk. I'm not counting McCoy since, IIRC his daughter was never mentioned on screen.

Wasn't George Takei actually pissed that they made Kelvin Sulu gay (or at least bi)? I honestly don't understand why he would be.

It's related to an interview he gave after publicly coming out, where he was asked about Sulu's sexuality, and he emphatically stated that Sulu is heterosexual, and that is always how he played the character. I suspect he was likely upset at what he perceived to be a disregard of his intent by the decision to make Kelvin Sulu gay.

 

[david kelly]

^^How would Takei have played Sulu if he knew he were gay? That seems so ridiculous. Being gay is not a character trait. It's only people who think in cliched stereotypes that believe that. That's why so many gay men struggle coming out because of that type of thinking.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

He never said anything to that effect I'm aware of, his issue being that it was in conflict with GR's vision of the character.

Did Gene have a problem with gay characters?

It's been heavily implied that he and L3 had a sexual and romantic relationship.

Romance? Yeah, that's doable. Actually having SEX with a droid? Ouch. Just....OUCH.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Romance? Yeah, that's doable. Actually having SEX with a droid? Ouch. Just....OUCH.

Ouch? How do you know L3 wasn't fully compatible?

 

[BillJ]

Did Gene have a problem with gay characters?

If you believe David Gerrold, he did.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Ouch? How do you know L3 wasn't fully compatible?

Didn't look like she had any "flesh bits" (not that a droid would ever have that anyway).

 

[Kor]

Didn't look like she had any "flesh bits" (not that a droid would ever have that anyway).

In the old "Shadows of the Empire" book, Prince Xizor's trusted confidante Guri was actually a human-replica droid who happened to have such functionality, in addition to her expert-level skills as a spy and assassin.

Kor

 

[Gepard]

Ouch? How do you know L3 wasn't fully compatible?

She's just a metal frame and a rat's nest of wires down there, so...

 

[Reverend]

If you believe David Gerrold, he did.

And if you believe Takei, he did not.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Didn't look like she had any "flesh bits" (not that a droid would ever have that anyway).

You shouldn't judge a droid by its shell.

 

[BillJ]

And if you believe Takei, he did not.

Not exactly sure the evidence lines up with that belief. There were zero gay characters on Gene's watch (we'll discount TOS because the sixties were an entirely different TV animal), even though he supposedly had complete control over TNG and was pitched a story that had them. Which he rejected.

 

[Spot261]

Let's be honest here, GR would have been against anything which stopped him making money

 

[Reverend]

Not exactly sure the evidence lines up with that belief. There were zero gay characters on Gene's watch (we'll discount TOS because the sixties were an entirely different TV animal), even though he supposedly had complete control over TNG and was pitched a story that had them. Which he rejected.

Don't recall where I read it, but I have a not entirely vague memory of Takei giving an account of a conversation he had with Gene back in the 60's (while still closeted) about the possibility of including a gay character. Gene's response was basically "I'd love to, but there's no way in hell the network would go for it." Given that they pretty much forced him to take the intelligent woman off the show, that seems to track. I can't speak for anything else Gene may have said or done over the years, but my impression was that Takei seemed to believe Gene was in earnest and an ally.

As for gay characters on "Gene's watch": even as late as the early 2000's (long after Gene & Trek parted ways) it would have been considered controversial to include an openly gay character as a regular cast member. They only just barely managed to get away with the two "lesbian" Trill kisses on DS9 & TNG and IIRC there were plans in include a scene in early TNG (season 1 or 2 IIRC) involving the grieving widower of a dead (male) redshirt...but they chickened out before it was shot.
Don't underestimate how squeamish US networks were about this kind of thing even well into the 90's.

 

[DigificWriter]

Romance? Yeah, that's doable. Actually having SEX with a droid? Ouch. Just....OUCH.

Although I haven't yet seen the film, I know that there's a point in Solo where L3 tells Q'ira that human-droid sex is a thing that is entirely possible, something that co-writers Jon and Lawrence Kasdan later confirmed directly.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Given that they pretty much forced him to take the intelligent woman off the show

You mean Number One?

Despite the spin that Gene Roddenberry put forth, the network didn't take her out because she was intelligent; they took her out because the only reason Gene put her there in the first place was due to their romantic relationship.

 

[Tuskin38]

Jon sort of jokingly implied that L3 and Lando have done stuff in an interview

 

[DigificWriter]

Jon sort of jokingly implied that L3 and Lando have done stuff in an interview

I don't think he or his father were joking.

 

[BillJ]

Don't underestimate how squeamish US networks were about this kind of thing even well into the 90's.

TNG was syndicated. Roddenberry was supposed to have this playground unencumbered by network censors, and TNG played it very, very safe.

 

[Kor]

When Gene was going around making appearances and doing advance publicity for TNG in the eighties, didn't he talk about how he wanted to include gay characters? Then he never actually did.

Kor

 

[The Wormhole]

When Gene was going around making appearances and doing advance publicity for TNG in the eighties, didn't he talk about how he wanted to include gay characters? Then he never actually did.

Kor

He tried to hide behind the excuse of not knowing how to pull it off, his logic being that in the 24th century homosexuality is normal and accepted and people don't draw attention to it. And how do you establish anyone is gay without drawing attention to it?

IMO, the easiest way is to just have a guy casually make reference to his husband and have no one react to that. That's not so hard. To be fair, even in late 80s early 90s syndication, this probably wouldn't fly. Just look at how many outlets in the US edited out the kiss scene in DS9's Rejoined.