Against my better judgment, I shall wade into the discourse on a topic I love.
I've seen enough people claim that modern Star Trek would be doing better if they didn't make gay characters the focus. And I think that argument is a big head-fake. Rather, I think the people making it have cottoned to what *is* happening in those shows, and it's much, much scarier for them than what they're describing.
I can name two gay couples, one bisexual character, and one almost-certainly-omnisexual (or maybe just, like, really hot, like, is it hot in here? Can I sit down? I should sit down) character in *Starfleet Academy.* I can also name one gay couple, two(?) nonbinary characters, and one gay character in *Star Trek: Discovery.*
I cannot name a single plot that was *about* any of that.
To be honest, I think *that's* what offended the offendable the most: it's *not* a focus. This era of Star Trek embraces and extends the Roddenberry-era notion that in the future, love would be more free, growing an assumption Roddenberry's era didn't necessarily embrace that love need not constrain across gender. If people of the same gender found mutual attraction, they just chased it. If opposing gender, they just chased it. What probably rankles the most for those opposed to that kind of world is that in this Trek, *it's background.* Boyfriends share quarters and bathroom sinks and nobody says anything about it. A character asks for their pronouns clarified and everyone just updates their mental rolodex. Jay-den has some feelings he hasn't quite placed yet for a War College cadet and he is willing to explore those feelings with the guy and *nobody stops him.*
And *that's* what's scary to those opposed to love being that free: this is not a Star Trek centering that conflict. This is a Star Trek depicting a future where their attitude on gender and sexual expression *already lost.* It's on the ash-can alongside capitalism, race, and in-species tribalism as "things humanity grew out of fighting about."
And, yeah, I can see how that kind of future would be terrifying for a certain kind of person.
And I'm sorry for them.
#StarTrek #StarfleetAcademy #Discovery #NuTrek
Mark T. Tomczak
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2026-04-09 22:12:33 UTC
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"content": "Against my better judgment, I shall wade into the discourse on a topic I love.\n\nI've seen enough people claim that modern Star Trek would be doing better if they didn't make gay characters the focus. And I think that argument is a big head-fake. Rather, I think the people making it have cottoned to what *is* happening in those shows, and it's much, much scarier for them than what they're describing.\n\nI can name two gay couples, one bisexual character, and one almost-certainly-omnisexual (or maybe just, like, really hot, like, is it hot in here? Can I sit down? I should sit down) character in *Starfleet Academy.* I can also name one gay couple, two(?) nonbinary characters, and one gay character in *Star Trek: Discovery.* \n\nI cannot name a single plot that was *about* any of that. \n\nTo be honest, I think *that's* what offended the offendable the most: it's *not* a focus. This era of Star Trek embraces and extends the Roddenberry-era notion that in the future, love would be more free, growing an assumption Roddenberry's era didn't necessarily embrace that love need not constrain across gender. If people of the same gender found mutual attraction, they just chased it. If opposing gender, they just chased it. What probably rankles the most for those opposed to that kind of world is that in this Trek, *it's background.* Boyfriends share quarters and bathroom sinks and nobody says anything about it. A character asks for their pronouns clarified and everyone just updates their mental rolodex. Jay-den has some feelings he hasn't quite placed yet for a War College cadet and he is willing to explore those feelings with the guy and *nobody stops him.*\n\nAnd *that's* what's scary to those opposed to love being that free: this is not a Star Trek centering that conflict. This is a Star Trek depicting a future where their attitude on gender and sexual expression *already lost.* It's on the ash-can alongside capitalism, race, and in-species tribalism as \"things humanity grew out of fighting about.\"\n\nAnd, yeah, I can see how that kind of future would be terrifying for a certain kind of person.\n\nAnd I'm sorry for them.\n\n#StarTrek #StarfleetAcademy #Discovery #NuTrek",
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