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As long as there's no neon sign...
By sb2004

The only problem I've had regarding gay characters in Trek is that, in all likelihood, the powers that be would have done something to hammer the point over our heads, sledgehammer-style. Trek wasn't known for its subtlety. And the problem is there's so much of a push for gay characters in Trek that the temptation might be to make the show (or episode) about being gay, in which case it just becomes The L Word, a show that means well but still pushes the titillation factor away from any "serious" approach to the subject.

And then you had Whedon who derailed Buffy with the whole Willow/Tara thing that took away from the show.

For the gold standard on how to showcase a gay character in a science fiction motif, Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood is the way to go. And I consider it authoritative in some respects because the man who created Torchwood (if not necessarily Harkness, though he probably had a hand in guiding writer Stephen Moffatt), Russell T Davies, is not only gay himself but also created the acclaimed Queer as Folk. And he should know how it should be done. If Trek were to follow that lead (hell, cast John Barrowman as a Starfleet captain when he's done with TW), then they would be able to come up with a mixture that not only does justice to the gay characters BUT (and this is paramount - pun intended) in such a way that is appealing to the audience as a whole. There were worries that Torchwood, featuring a gay main character and supporting characters all of whom have some bisexual leanings, would not appeal to the same wide audience Doctor Who does. The ratings have proven this to be unfounded.

I never really had much faith in the production regimes of Trek (from Roddenberry through to B&B) to handle it properly.

Al

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