The Groundbreaking Stamets / Culber Kiss

[MakeshiftPython]

Is this the first man-to-man kiss on screen in Star Trek? Yeesh, for a franchise everyone touts as being so progressive, Star Trek is really behinds the times in regards to homosexuality.

It's pretty embarssing. I can understand why Paramount would be hesitant in the 90s with TNG, but by the 2000s with ENT it should have been a non-issue. Of course, it was totally okay for woman-on-woman kissing, cause most homophobic men are totally cool with that.

 

[MrPointy]

Uhura and Kirk having the first interracial kiss on TV is a myth and not actually true. Technically Quark and Nilva were the first to do a male to male kiss on Star Trek

They didn't really kiss though. The director did that behind the head camera trick.

 

[marsh8472]

They didn't really kiss though. The director did that behind the head camera trick.

I can't really tell. There's been disputes about Kirk and Uhura not really kissing and instead using trickery where their lips never actually touched.

 

[MrPointy]

I can't really tell. There's been disputes about Kirk and Uhura not really kissing and instead using trickery where their lips never actually touched.

The final kiss in the episode was real, but the studio planned to do a cut where it was a camera trick so they could say it didn't actually happen for the Southern states, that Shatner deliberately screwed up.

 

[The Wormhole]

Of course, it was totally okay for woman-on-woman kissing, cause most homophobic men are totally cool with that.

Actually, I remember Jadzia and Lenara Khan kissing in Rejoined caused a bit of a stir, with the scene being edited out of the episode in some states. Curiously, no one cared about Kira and Ezri kissing in Emperor's New Cloak, but then it's possible being the "evil and wrong" Mirror Universe probably made it alright for the homophobes.

 

[mdtauk]

Actually, I remember Jadzia and Lenara Khan kissing in Rejoined caused a bit of a stir, with the scene being edited out of the episode in some states. Curiously, no one cared about Kira and Ezri kissing in Emperor's New Cloak, but then it's possible being the "evil and wrong" Mirror Universe probably made it alright for the homophobes.

That is an example of a double standard. Two women kissing is more acceptable than two men, because some men may find it titillating.

What's done is done, and most acknowledge it was a glaring oversight. From here on out, let's not make the same old mistake of applying some audience sensibilities (more likely their prejudice and bigotry), onto the production, and let us show diversity as being a matter of fact, and not feature sexuality in a context of it being an issue, or a story plot point.

 

[SPCTRE]

Glad to see Star Trek catching up to most liberal societies.

 

[Turtletrekker]

What was the name of that female Ferengi who dressed up as a man and was in love with Quark? Obviously that wasn't a male-male kiss, but Jadzia clearly didn't think there would have been anything wrong with it if it was.

Pel.

Star Trek certainly could have done more in the Berman era than allegory, but largely missed the boat in this matter simply by not being on the air as homosexuality became more socially acceptable. If I recall correctly, even the female on female kiss on Deep Space Nine generated a lot of angry responses. Despite largely agreeing with George Takei about the Sulu character, I do appreciate what the Bad Robot movies tried to do with him in the most recent movie.

 

[marsh8472]

The final kiss in the episode was real, but the studio planned to do a cut where it was a camera trick so they could say it didn't actually happen for the Southern states, that Shatner deliberately screwed up.

According to William Shatner's Star Trek Memories they did not

Unfortunately, what Gene meant by "Let's shoot it two ways" was that we'd shoot the Kirk/Uhura kiss twice. In the first take, we's actually kiss on camera, and in the second, Nichelle and I would turn our bodies as we embraced, so that my back was to the camera long before our lips would have ever touched. We'd give the impression of kissing without ever touching lips. Sadly, when push came to shove, the network got their way and the no-contact kiss made it to the airwaves. For that reason, the widely held assumption that Star Trekfeatures the first interracial kiss in the history of television is absolutely untrue. And if you happen across the episode, look closely and you'll see what I mean.