Star Trek: LGBTQ Characters You Might Have Missed
The Star Trek franchise has always been at the forefront of sociological commentary and even though there were no LGBTQ characters on Star Trek: The Original Series, Gene Roddenberry always planned to have an LGBTQ crew member appear in the fifth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Leonard Nemoy himself gave support in 1991, saying, "It is entirely fitting that gays and lesbians will appear unobtrusively aboard the Enterprise—neither objects of pity nor melodramatic attention." But Roddenberry died before it could happen.
Though TNG never ended up having LGBTQ characters as part of major storylines, other entries in the franchise carried the torch, and both Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Discovery, and Star Trek: Picardaimed to be inclusive to the community in meaningful ways. Here are the LGBTQ characters you may have missed in Star Trek, which continues to boldly bush the bounds of pop culture.
10 Soren
Though TNG never had an LGBTQ crewmember, it did feature a character designed to broach the subject of sexual orientation in the episode "The Outcast". Soren was introduced as a J'naii, an androgynous race that saw gender as a primitive concept. She informed Commander Riker that she was inclined to present as female and they began a secret relationship.
When the J'naii discovered what she'd done, they arrested her and subjected her to "psychotectic" therapy, which eliminated all aspects of any gender. Jonathan Frakes (Riker) felt the episode could have been more daring, with Soren presenting more as distinctly male, but it did show the ramifications of sexual discrimination.
9 Garak
A fan-favorite character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Garak was a tailor on the space station's promenade level that was known for his flamboyant turn of phrase and his love of gossip. Details about the character's sexuality are included in the book A Stitch In Time.
Actor Andrew Robinson explained that he played Garak as bisexual on the series, and even felt that at times the emotive Cardassian might be pansexual, and loved people regardless of what gender they presented.
8 Jadzia Dax
Jadzia Dax was a fascinating character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in that, as a member of the Trill species, the gender of the host body entering into the symbiotic relationship with a Trill symbiote didn't matter. So while the symbiote "Dax" was male, after the death of his host body he was put into Jadzia's female-presenting body.
This allowed Jadzia Dax to approach the topic of same-sex romance on occasion, such as with Curzon Dax's former lover, who didn't seem put off by the fact that Dax was not female. All Trill are implied to be inherently pansexual.
7 Q
As part of the immortal time-traveling beings known as the Continuum, Q could take any shape he wanted. He chose to present himself as a fastidious and mischievous male when he appeared to Captain Picard aboard the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Fans have long debated about Q's sexual orientation (the consensus is he's pansexual), especially since as the series progressed he became more and more familiar with Picard. In the episode "Tapestry", Q commented on their relationship and implied that he might have been Picard's lover in an alternate universe.
6 Arandis
In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Let He Who Is Without Sin...", Worf, Jadzia Dax, Julian Bashir, Leeta, and Quark all decide to go on a vacation to Risa, the Federation's pleasure planet. Worf spends the entire time being a grump and eventually elects to join a radical political group intent on causing a revolution.
This leaves Jadzia Dax plenty of time to spend with Arandis (played by Vanessa Williams), who was once Curzon Dax's lover. As the two spend more and more time on Risa together, their obvious chemistry makes Worf bitterly jealous. It's thought by fans that Arandis is bisexual.
5 Jet Reno
When viewers met Jett Reno in Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, little was known about her except that she held the rank of Commander and served as an engineer aboard the USS Hiawatha. Conflict during the Federation-Klingon War meant the destruction of her ship and many of her fellow crewmembers.
In a brief conversation later in the season, Reno explains that she was married once, but that her wife (who was a Soyousian) died sometime during the war's start. Eagle-eyed fans will notice she continues to wear her wedding band.
4 Kira Nerys (Mirror Universe)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had several episodes that took place in the Mirror Universe, beginning with "Crossover" and followed by "Through the Looking Glass", "Shattered Mirror", "Resurrection" and "The Emperor's New Cloak". It allowed characters who were otherwise heterosexual to become LGBTQ.
In the Mirror Universe, Kira Nerys was bisexual and flaunted her sexual orientation openly and with confidence. Actress Nana Visitor was glad the series included a bisexual character, but disliked that the portrayal had to be "evil" for the sake of the plot.
3 Captain Kathryn Janeway
It was a titanic victory for Kate Mulgrew to portray the first female captain in the Star Trek franchise, but the actress wanted to push the boundaries even more. She spoke with producers about allowing Captain Kathryn Janeway to have a same-sex relationship, but they didn't go for it.
The closest she got was in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Ashes to Ashes", when a female member of the crew returned from the dead and wanted to leave the ship. She went on a date with Captain Janeway, who tried to convince her to stay. Captain Janeway remains an LGBTQ icon to this day.
2 Seven Of Nine
Recently, in the Season 1 finale of Star Trek: Picard, eagle-eyed fans can spot ex-Borg Seven of Nine and ex-Starfleet officer Raffi holding hands in an intimate fashion aboard the La Sirena. Showrunner Michael Chabon has said a relationship between the two will be explored in the next season.
In both Star Trek: Voyager episodes "The Killing Game, Part I" and "Dark Frontier, Part II", there are sections of dialogue that seem to imply that Seven of Nine is possibly bisexual, long before Star Trek: Picard made it so. Actress Jeri Ryan lobbied in 1997 for Seven of Nine to be bisexual.
1 Philippa Georgiou (Mirror Universe)
In the tradition of changing the sexual orientation of characters in the Mirror Universe, Star Trek: Discovery featured a prominent series of episodes featuring the alternate reality where Philippa Georgiou was still alive and bisexual. When she's brought to the prime timeline of Discovery, she retains her Mirror Universe traits.
This is presented most prominently in the fact that, on a mission to a Klingon planet in Season 1, she engages in a threesome with both a man and a woman. While the seduction is for the purposes of obtaining information, it's implied that Philippa Georgiou has done this for enjoyment before.
Source: screenrant.com