A blog about LGBTQ+ History, Art, Literature, Politics, Culture, and Whatever Else Comes to Mind. The Closet Professor is a fun (sometimes tongue-in-cheek, sometimes very serious) approach to LGBTQ+ Culture.
Friday, Paramount+ released the first of their Star Trek movies, Section 31. In the Star Trek universe, Section 31 is a nefarious group introduced in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine when they tried to recruit Dr. Julian Bashir. Since its first introduction as an autonomous shadow organization tasked with protecting the Federation at all costs, the organization has appeared in Star Trek Into Darkness, Enterprise, and Star Trek: Discovery. The organization has always been portrayed as an evil organization that would stop at nothing to fulfill what it believes its mission to be. Some Star Trek fans hate the idea of Section 31 because they say it goes against Gene Roddenberry’s utopian ideals for Star Trek, but let’s face it, while the Star Trek universe gives us hope for a better future, the Federation has never been a perfect society. Even Gene Roddenberry understood that utopia would have its cracks in its foundation.
Since Michelle Yeoh departed Discovery there had been rumors of a Section 31 series. Then, Yeoh won an Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once, I assumed the series development had been cancelled. I did not believe an Academy award winning actress would headline a Star Trek series. So, I was surprised when they announced that Paramount+ would be making what they called an “event movie” about Section 31 starring Michelle Yeoh.
Every new version of Star Trek since the original series has had a love/hate relationship with Trekkies. Many Trekkies hate anything that is not the original series. Even Next Generation which has become a much beloved show was hated when it began. Deep Space Nine was basically hated through its entire seven seasons, Voyager always got a mixed reception, and Enterprise seemed to put a death knell in Star Trek spinoffs when it only lasted five season. Then, Discovery was released on CBS All Access, and the hatred truly began because it introduced an African American female as the lead character, had a gay couple, transgender and non-binary characters, and a host of other perceived faults. There are many Star Trek fans who never understood the social commentary that Roddenberry established in Star Trek back in the 1960s. It was always groundbreaking, but even Star Trek fans are not immune to the racist, the homophobic, and the ignorant, no matter how much those beliefs go against all Roddenberry’s utopian ideals for Star Trek.
So, it’s no surprise to see Section 31 get terrible reviews from some of the fans. Plus, internet trolls are everywhere including among Trekkies. They are going to be critical and hate everything and never give anything new a chance. I won’t claim that I thought Section 31 was a masterpiece. I believed that it would be a good movie because I really didn’t think at this point in her career Yeoh would be part of a project that she didn’t believe would be good. There were certain surprise elements to Section 31 that I enjoyed, but I knew from the beginning that this would be a darker version of the Star Trek universe. All in all, I was entertained by the movie. I always like seeing anything Star Trek. I even gave Prodigy a try, and it’s the only entry in the series that I could not watch. When it was on Paramount+, I watched it, but I never enjoyed it. That might have had to do more with it being a show for kids than with anything else. I certainly was not going to resubscribe to Netflix to watch it.
So while Section 31 was not my favorite of the Star Trek franchise, it wasn’t too bad. I was entertained, and that’s what really matters to me. So, if you are skeptical, I suggest you give it a try. If you have already seen it, what did you think?
I used to always write my posts the night before, but for the past several months, I’ve been writing them first thing in the morning. However, this post, I wrote last night. I knew I would probably not have time to write one this morning. Why you might ask? The series finale of Star Trek: Discovery was released today, and I’m going to watch it before I go to work.
I’ll admit that Star Trek: Discovery has not always been my favorite Star Trek series. However, it was what brought Star Trek back to television, even if it was on a streaming service. Because of Discovery, we got Picard, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds. We also got Prodigy, but honestly, that one is really not worth mentioning. Discovery started the “New Trek” era. There have been ups and downs with this new era of Star Trek shows, but we got Star Trek back and it wasn’t through J. J. Abrams, who I think did Star Trek movies a major disservice.
I’ll hate to see Discovery end, and I’ll hate to see Lower Decks end with its next season, but we have at least two more seasons of Strange New Worlds to look forward to and the upcoming Section 31 movie with Michelle Yeoh and the recently announced Starfleet Academy series which will apparently have Holly Hunter as a lead actress. I’m not sure how I feel about that, but we’ll see how she does.
So, as one series ends, and another one about to end, Trekkies still have a lot to look forward to in the near future.
P.S. I hate to see the end of a series headed by Sonequa Martin-Green. As far as I know, she’s the only lead on a Star Trek series from Alabama, and she has a degree from the University of Alabama. Although Louise Fletcher, who played Kai Winn on Deep Space Nine, was also a fellow Alabamian, she was a recurring character, not a lead actress.
I watched Star Trek: Discovery this morning when I got up, and considering where I work, this was a very interesting episode. However, because I watched the episode, I didn’t have much time to write a post today. So, enjoy your Isabella pic of the week. I took this one the other day.
When I woke up this morning, I fed Isabella, made breakfast, and since it’s Thursday, I watched the new episode of Star Trek: Discovery. It’s a show I can’t multitask while watching, so I didn’t have much time to write a post. By the way, I think Discovery saved the best season for its last season. So far, I’ve enjoyed it more than any other season. I hope that continues.
Well, that’s it for today, have a great Thursday. Here’s your Isabella pic of the week:
In this picture, she’s staring at a robin. Of all the birds and wildlife around where I live, she only pays attention to one other animal: a robin. She’s obsessed with them. If I have a window open, and she hears a robin, she runs to the window as fast as possible. When I took this picture, she and a robin were having a staring contest. It seemed to go on forever until the robin got bored and flew away.
Star Trek: Discovery’s final season began being released today with episodes 1 and 2. I watched episode 1 as soon as I got up this morning. And it shows a lot of promise for the season. I’ll watch episode 2 tonight. This season already has certain ties to both TNG and DS9.
Although, I haven’t always loved Discovery, it is often fun to watch. It has also been the most LGBTQ+ progressive Star Trek series ever. It has included a married gay couple as main characters, a lesbian who was widowed during the Klingon War, and a transgender and a non-binary character. I’ve especially liked that the creators did not make a big deal out introducing LGBTQ+ characters. It’s been groundbreaking Star Trek series in many ways, and I’ll miss its progressiveness of the series.
If you’re curious about this post’s title, all Star Trek captains have phrase for telling their ship to move out: Picard’s was “Engage,” Captain Pike’s is “Hit it!,” and Captain Burnham (Discovery) is “Let’s fly!”
And here’s your weekly Isabella pic:
She enjoys keeping an eye on things from the top of the kitchen cabinets.
In the penultimate episode of the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, “Subspace Rhapsody,” the show goes somewhere no other Star Trek show has gone before: the world of musicals. I’m not always your most typical gay man and don’t always follow stereotypes, unless I’m camping it up for one reason or another, but I am an embodiment of one stereotype: I love musicals and always have. With that being said, I’ll have to admit, even I was a little skeptical about a Star Trek musical episode. Could they pull it off? Would it be incredibly cheesy or silly? Could the cast even sing?
However, the producers of Star Trek surprised me. I know there will be some naysayers, and there are plenty of Trekkies who seem to actually hate everything Star Trek, yet still consider themselves “fans.” Said naysayers either nitpick one very minor thing and claim it goes against “canon” and ruined the whole show (and I mean show not just episode), or they will claim that Star Trek should always be serious scientific exploration. Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock, said in a 2009 interview with Reuters, “Canon is only important to people because they have to cling to their knowledge of the minutiae. Open your mind! Be a ‘Star Trek’ fan and open your mind and say, ‘Where does Star Trek want to take me now?’”
Nearly every episode has had its critics, but just as many have people who were enthusiastic about it. Facebook fan groups are already having debates about the merits of the episode. The same naysayers hated the recent Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks crossover episode “Those Old Scientists.” I thought it was one of the best episodes of the series, but I’ve also liked the Spock-centric episodes: “Spock Amok” and “Charades.” The best Star Trek series have had a balance of fun and wacky episodes and serious and scientific episodes. For example on Deep Space Nine, there are the serious “O’Brien Must Suffer” episodes and the humorous “Ferengi” episodes. In both Strange New Worlds and Deep Space Nine (the two series I know the best), a serious episode was usually followed by a fun episode or vice versa. Picard and Discovery, both of which I liked in their own way, tend to stick to serious episodes and use a serial story arch format for the season. Strange New Worlds and Deep Space Nine often follow the episodic format similar to Star Trek and The Next Generation. Both formats have their advantages, but I think I often prefer the episodic format.
One of the things I enjoy about Strange New Worlds is that there are certain subtle commentaries and traditions about Star Trek in each of the episodes. The writers/producers seemed to give a nod to the Leonard Nimoy quote above in “Subspace Rhapsody.” When Uhura plays Cole Porters “Anything Goes,” I suspect it was a message from the producers and writers to say, “Where does Star Trek want to take me now?” The bottom line is they did pull it off. Yes, it was cheesy and silly at times, but it’s a musical and by the nature of the genre, people break out into song when normal people wouldn’t. Also, like many musicals, it had its emotional moments and plenty of humor along the way. That leaves the last question: Could the cast even sing? The answer is, some can, others are OK. Rebecca Romjin (Number One) and Celia Rose Gooding (Uhura) have beautiful voices as does Jess Bush (Nurse Chapel). As for the others, the lack of being a music virtuoso makes sense in the way it was done or they sing as part of the chorus. I’m not sure anyone would want to hear Carol Kane sing with that voice of hers. I also liked that the style of music that various characters sing fit their characters. For example, Anson Mount’s Captain Pike has an almost county twang to his songs. Ethan Peck’s Spock is more serious.
I’ve tried not to give too much away, so I don’t think I’ve given any spoilers. Forgive me if I have. Of course, my enjoyment of “Subspace Rhapsody” is just my opinion (but I’ve already watched it twice since it was released yesterday). Trekkies everywhere will have strong opinions one way or another. I liked it and wanted to share my own opinion. Overall, if anyone was going to do a “Star Trek Musical” this was the way it should have been and was done. The “Subspace Rhapsody” official cast recording will be available for purchase starting today, though Apple Music accidentally released it early and then took it down. If/when you watch it, I’d love to hear your opinion of the episode (I know those outside the United States aren’t yet able to watch the episodes).
For the past six weeks and for the next four, I look forward to Thursday because a new episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premieres each week. The show is great, and I think it’s the best iteration of Star Trek since Deep Space Nine. It is especially fun to watch SNW for two reasons: Anson Mount (above, left) and Ethan Peck (above, right). Anson Mount makes the best looking Star Trek captain since the original Star Trek Captain Jeffrey Hunter, who also played Captain Christopher Pike. However, the main reason is Ethan Peck, the grandson of Gregory Peck. Ethan Peck plays Spock and is incredibly handsome. He also has a fantastically shaped butt and a great body overall. I mean, look at this man:
The show itself is well worth watching, but thankfully there is also plenty of eye candy, including Paul Wesley as a young Lt. James T. Kirk.
I have Spectrum cable at my current apartment. For the most part I get good service with Spectrum, though it is more expensive than my previous cable, and I no longer have HBO. When I first got Spectrum, I realized there were several channels that I wanted that I did not get, such as TCM (I love old movies), so I went with the expanded package to get TCM and some other channels I didn’t have. One of those channels was Heroes & Icons, which I didn’t realize I had until last night. H&I shows Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise every night. Though I won’t stay up until midnight to see all five shows, I would like to have the option. When I tuned to the channel, it says I need to upgrade, even though I already upgraded to this channel, also there isn’t a 🔑 icon after the channel title, which means I’m supposed to have the channel available. I can access the channel through the Specteum app on my iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Roku, but I cannot access it through the cable box.
Because it would not let me tune into the channel, I decided to contact Specteum. I was first told to reset the cable,box, which I did, and it did not fix the problem. My next option was to use the chat feature on their website. It was not working correctly because they were supposed to try resetting the box remotely, but it never reset. So, they then said I needed to talk to a representative instead of their automated system. It said there was a 25-30 minute wait, so I waited. And I waited. And I waited. Finally, I got “near the front of the line” before they said it was taking longer than usual and to continue to wait. I spent most of my evening waiting on a Spectrum representative, but eventually it was my bedtime, so I had to disconnect. I never was able to speak to anyone. I’ll have to try again when I get home from work tomorrow.
I hate waiting on customer service representatives. Usually, once I get someone on the phone or through the chat in the “Contact Us” section, the representative is usually very nice and helpful. The problem is getting someone to talk to. Oh well, I know like most people in the service industry of any kind, they are overworked, overwhelmed, and trying to do the best that they can.
The bridge of Star Trek’s U.S.S. Enterprise was surpassingly diverse for a 1960s television show. The first officer was an alien, the helmsman was Japanese, the navigator was Russian, and the communications officer was an African woman. Actress and singer Nichelle Nichols, played communications officer Lieutenant Uhura, whose name came from Uhuru, the Swahili word for "freedom." At age 89, Nichols died Saturday night of heart failure in Silver City, New Mexico. Nichols was one of the first Black women featured in a major television series.
It was a groundbreaking role that Nichols did not realize just how groundbreaking until she met a particular fan of hers. It was 1967, and reviews for the first season of Star Trek were not great. Nichols had bigger issues with the show. She found it demoralizing to see her lines cut and cut again. She had to deal with racist insults off set, as well as from executives who conspired to keep her from seeing her fan mail. At the end of the first season, Nichols recounted in her autobiography, she told the show’s creator she was done.
But the next day, at an NAACP function, a fan greeted her: Martin Luther King Jr. He told her how important her role was and how he and his family watched Star Trek faithfully and adored her in particular — the only Black character. Nichols thanked him, but said she planned to leave.
“You cannot and you must not,” she recalls him saying. “Don’t you realize how important your presence, your character is? ... Don’t you see? This is not a Black role, and this is not a female role. You have the first non-stereotypical role on television, male or female. You have broken ground. “... For the first time,” he continued, “the world sees us as we should be seen, as equals, as intelligent people — as we should be.”
Nichols stayed for the next two seasons of the series, lent her voice to an animated version, and appeared in a half-dozen Star Trek movies. She had the first interracial kiss in American television. She recruited for NASA. Through her work, she influenced Mae Jemison — the first Black female astronaut.
Nichols suffered a stroke in 2015 and was diagnosed with dementia in 2018. Last December, at San Diego's Comic Con, Nichols made her last public appearance and was celebrated by NASA.
With the passing of Nichelle Nichols, one ofStar Trek’s brightest starshas gone out. Hailing frequency closed.
I shall have more to say about the trailblazing, incomparable Nichelle Nichols, who shared the bridge with us as Lt. Uhura of the USS Enterprise, and who passed today at age 89. For today, my heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend.
Sometimes, we can describe things as "highly anticipated," i.e., an event we eagerly anticipate and expect will be very good, exciting, or interesting. Sometimes, those highly anticipated events live up to their hype. Sometimes they don't for one reason or another. I anticipated seeing Firebird, as was apparent in yesterday's post. Then, yesterday morning while I was eating breakfast, an aura (flashing or twinkling lights or zigzag lines, which typically precede migraine headache) appeared in my vision. I usually see twinkling lights, and this is what I saw yesterday. While I don't always have an aura before headaches, I always have a headache beginning in the next 24 hours after I see an aura. Today's was a particularly dramatic aura that went on and on for about a minute. They usually only last a few seconds. By the time I got to work, I had a progressively worsening migraine, and it progressed throughout the day. I went home at lunch. I knew if my headache did not improve, I would not be going to see the highly anticipated Firebird, no matter how much I wanted to see it. Eventually, it will be released on one of the streaming services, and I can then watch it on the small screen. So, bummer number one, I did not get to see Firebird.
Another example is my post-op appointment with the doctor who did my endoscopy. It was supposed to happen this week to discuss our next step since I was not an ideal candidate for the Inspire device. I had still not heard from my doctor's office by Wednesday, so I called. They could not schedule an appointment to see the doctor until May 26, not exactly this week, is it? Anyway, I am anticipating what I will hear from her when I can have the post-procedure conversation.
Those two highly anticipated events proved to be disappointments, not because the movie was terrible or because I got bad news from the doctor. They were merely disappointments because they did not happen. Two other events were highly anticipated: the second season finale of Star Trek: Picard (PIC) and the series premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds(SNW). Since I first saw Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike and later heard rumors that he would be given his own show that would feature him as the captain of the USS. Enterprise. If you know your Star Trek lore, you know that Pike was the captain of the Enterprise before James T. Kirk was captain of the famous starship. I was excited to see what they might do with the Enterprise in the years before Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, and I was also excited to see more of Anson Mount as Pike and Ethan Peck (the grandson of actor Gregory Peck), both of whom I have major celebrity crushes on. Both men are very sexy and handsome and play to both types of men that I find myself most attracted to.
I will not give anything away about the series premiere, but I do have a few things to say. Sometimes, highly anticipated events, especially movies and television shows, turn out to be highly disappointing, and sometimes, highly anticipated events exceed all your expectations. Of course, there are also times when it does neither or is what you expected or not as bad as it could have been. SNW exceeded all my expectations. To say it was phenomenally good would be an understatement. The only time I have enjoyed a Star Trek series more than the first episode of SNW was Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9), which I have watched the complete series numerous times.
Rod Roddenberry, son of Gene Roddenberry (creator of Star Trek) and CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment, said of SNW, "Saying nothing bad about the other shows, but this is the one I'm most excited about. It's going to go back to the formatting of the original series. It's the kind of thing we need to get out there to give us hope" I hope SNW does get back to the hope and spirit of the original Star Trek. Discovery and Picard have often shown us a darker version of the future, and while I still enjoy them, I love DS9, and it was the darkest of all the first generation of spin-offs, I think at the heart of Star Trek is a message of hope.
This brings me to my last highly anticipated event, the season finale of Picard. The finale of season one left me unsatisfied and maybe even a little upset or disturbed. It had some great parts, but the very end just did not sit well with me. The second season has been more entertaining and, I guess, less heartbreaking. Season two's finale lived up to the expectations we've seen throughout the series, and I found the finale interesting and satisfying. A lot happens in the episode, and there could have easily been two additional episodes, as they crammed a lot into the 45-minute runtime. I'm interested to see where the third and final season takes us.
I guess two out of four ain't bad, especially when the two exceeded my expectations. The other two were just disappointments that will resolve themselves in the future. Right now, I’m just looking forward to where Star Trek: Strange New Words takes us. Hit it!
There are certain actors that make my heart go pitter patter and can take my breath away when I see them on the screen. Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber on Star Trek: Discovery is one of them, and the new uniform this season makes him even hotter. There’s something about these new uniforms that just look great, no matter who is wearing them, but back to Cruz. When he played Enrique "Rickie" Vasquez, a troubled, gay teen, in the short-lived seriesMy So-Called Life, Cruz was the first openly gay actor to play an openly gay character in a leading role in an American television series. That was in 1994, and I was a junior in high school. While I may not have been out, or even understood that I was gay back then, Cruz still made an impression on me. So when he was cast in Discovery as a gay doctor, I was thrilled. Who better to play one of the first two openly gay Star Trek characters than such a groundbreaking actor. Also, while over the four seasons of Discovery Cruz’s role has become more important each year, his character in the fourth season seems to have really hit its stride. Dr. Bashir on Deep Space Nine and Dr. McCoy on the original Star Trek have always been my favorite Star Trek doctors, Dr. Culber has surpassed them.
There are other actors that always get me hot and bothered. One of those actors is Luke Macfarlane. You’re probably all going, “Who?” Macfarlane first notable role was as Scotty Wandell on ABC's Brothers & Sisters from 2006-2011. He was the husband to Kevin Walker (played by Matthew Rhys), one of the "brothers" of the show. He was also a main character in the Sci-Fi Channel (and Canada’s Space Channel) show Killjoys from 2015-2019. Also, if you watch any Hallmark Channel Christmas movies, he’s on of their go-to actors. Most recently he was in the Micheal Urie and Kathy Najimy Christmas movie on Netflix Single All the Way as the gorgeous fitness/ski instructor James (see above picture). I watched the movie last night and enjoyed it. I have not seen Macfarlane in a lot of stuff since I had seen him in Killjoys, but when he came on the screen in Single All the Way, I think my heart literally skipped a beat.
There are many gay actors that I love, and a few that aren’t gay, that make my heart go pitter patter. One that never fails me is Colton Haynes. I have been in love with him since I first saw pictures of him making out with another male model in the now defunct XY Magazine. Years later, he was in Teen Wolf and Arrow. What’s amazing about Haynes is that he’s been a successful model and actor but has also suffered from severe anxiety all of his life. Sadly, he dealt with that anxiety with drugs and alcohol, but as I understand it, he is finally sober and doing well these days.
So what actors, particularly gay ones, make your heart go pitter patter?
For Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, Canada’s Drag Race (CDR) should have been a dream come true. He was raised in a tiny town in Alberta and had no previous major television credits to his name. The 36-year-old actor and model — whose biggest credit was playing a manipulative reality TV producer on Lifetime’s UnREAL — was chosen to sit among its panel of judges. The openly gay and biracial Bowyer-Chapman already was familiar to CDR fans the world over having appeared a handful of times as a guest judge on VH1’s RuPaul’s Drag Race (RPDR) and RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars. “There’s something about drag that I’ve always been so enamored by,” he said. “Drag is magic."
But the dream quickly turned into a glittery nightmare. In a recent interview, Bowyer-Chapman discussed his exit from the program where he alleged racism from theCDRproducers, as well as a toxic fanbase that prompted his abrupt exit from the program. Bowyer-Chapman had served as one of the permanent judges in the first season of the series, a spin-off of the popular American show,RPDR. He exited the job prior to Season 2 following a campaign of online blowback for his comments as a judge although he cited “scheduling conflicts” as the official reason for his departure. Speaking toThe Hollywood Reporter, Bowyer-Chapman explained that American producers convinced him to accept the job as a judge on the Canadian show, but that the toxic work environment drove him to leave.
Upon arriving on the Canadian set, Bowyer-Chapman encountered a new group of local producers, and very different attitudes about his involvement. “I came into CDR with a false sense of security because I had built trust with the producers of the American show,” he said. “But this was a different set of producers. And I think they were trying to create something impactful and prove themselves along the way. There were many instances where I should have paid attention to my intuition and spoken up. And I didn’t.”
The problems began almost immediately when a “white, gay, male showrunner” pulled Bowyer-Chapman aside and told him just before he was to meet the queens for the first time that he was the “man-candy for the queens to drool over.” Apparently, all the judges had signed very ironclad contracts stating they would not fraternize with any of the contestants or the crew off-set. They were to have no personal relationships, dialogue, or contact with the queens whatsoever other than when they were filming. Bowyer-Chapman said in his introduction to the drag contestants, “the queens were flirting with me and being suggestive in some ways. My walls went up immediately. I realized there were different expectations being put on me that were not being placed on the rest of the cast, and nobody was going to protect me.”
The harassment from the showrunner continued, as Bowyer-Chapman’s boss explained he needed to play the role of the “sassy” judge on the panel. Bowyer-Chapman said, “Being told that from a white person, ever, as a Black person, it’s like a dog whistle. It’s like what is said of Black women and of Black queer men meaning you’re the hot-headed, opinionated one who’s going to tell it like it is and not give a shit about what anybody has to say. And that’s not who I am.” He also attributes that environment, at least in part, to a lack of Black talent behind the camera. “There really was no Black talent,” he said. “We’re walking onto a set of CDR day one, and the showrunner is telling me how diverse the crew was as he’s giving me a tour. And I didn’t see one Black person.”
In a departure from the US version of the show, the Canadian version outfitted judges with earpieces to get suggested snarky comments from producers. Judges also got a list of suggested negative criticisms from producers ahead of time, and were required to record them so editors could drop them into a show at will. The policy made Bowyer-Chapman uncomfortable as it forced both him and the other judges to constantly deliver negative criticism. “Even if we didn’t have anything negative to say, you had to come up with something negative.” He said he realized the producers were portraying him as aggressively negative after the first episode. Tensions hit a new level several episodes into the season when Bowyer-Chapman had a terse exchange with the contestant, Jimbo. The moment, in which Bowyer-Chapman told Jimbo to “use time better, maybe,” became an instant meme, and prompted fans to create a Change.org petition to have Bowyer-Chapman fired from the show. The petition didn’t garner anywhere near its signature goal, but the moment started a campaign of online bullying that would follow Bowyer-Chapman the rest of the season.
“My inbox was flooded with people telling me I was too mean. I didn’t know what I was talking about. Just a lot of blatant racism. Their public profiles read ‘Black Lives Matter,’ but their DMs were all about how my Black life didn’t matter. All of us were locked in our homes, riddled with anxiety … and then to be experiencing this hate and verbal violence and emotional assaults, this just blatant racism at the same time from my own community? It was really hard.” Bowyer-Chapman’s co-judges felt some of the backlash, too — but whereas judge, Brooke Lynn Hytes (who said of one contestant’s piñata-like outfit, “I should … beat you with a stick”) already had competed in a season of RPDR, and earned the right to critique, Bowyer-Chapman was viewed as an interloper with no expertise in the field. There also was the matter of race. “There was a lot I experienced that Brooke Lynn just couldn’t have, because Brooke Lynn is a white man.”
Amid the harassment, RuPaul himself reached out to comfort Bowyer-Chapman. He also advised the then-judge to leave Twitter over the ongoing harassment. “We had conversations about his experience in this world and this industry as a Black, queer man. As a drag queen,” Bowyer-Chapman recalled. “All the hate and trolling and vitriol he’s experienced his entire life. And it’s really heartbreaking, but he’s experienced it for so many years and he’s so clear-headed about it. He has learned to not take it personally.” Still, when Season 2 of CDR rolled around, Bowyer-Chapman opted to leave to accept a role on another series though not before he “called a lot of attention to the bullshit that occurred behind the scenes and the stuff that happened online and their inaction.”
Crave, the network that airs CDR, released a statement regarding Bowyer-Chapman’s departure and the campaign of online bullying. “In light of the social media attacks and bullying that Jeffrey experienced during season one, we put measures in place to mitigate this for future seasons. This includes a dedicated social media consultant to work with Crave to continue monitoring conversations in real-time.” RuPaul declined to comment, but his relationship with Bowyer-Chapman remains good, and he already has taped an appearance on an upcoming season of RPDR. For Bowyer-Chapman, though, the lesson is clear: “That’s what happens when it’s only white, cisgender people behind the scenes making the decisions. That’s what happens.”
Wilson Cruz, who plays the gay doctor Hugh Culber onStar Trek: Discoveryand is openly gay himself, took to Twitter to bring attention to an incident that occurred during his appearance for Star Trek Day on September 8. Cruz voiced his frustration with a homophobic Star Trek fan that harassed him during a recent appearance.
I wonder if this was the moment on stage when I heard a “fan” on Star Trek Day refer to me with a homophobic slur… 🧐 Still smiling, though. You’ll never kill my joy. pic.twitter.com/stdzmk0UqE
In the tweet, Cruz wrote, “I wonder if this was the moment on stage when I heard a ‘fan’ on Star Trek Day refer to me with a homophobic slur,” Cruz wrote, captioning an image of himself smiling on stage. “Still smiling, though. You’ll never kill my joy.”
There are more Trekkies who are homophobic than you would think would be the case. They were outraged when on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine there was a kiss between two women (which was not a gay kiss—it’s complicated), and they have voiced their disdain over the LGBTQ+ characters on Star Trek: Discovery and the possibility of LGBTQ+ characters on Star Trek: Picard. During the early years of Enterprise there were constant rumors that one of the characters would come out as gay, but with the backlash from this homophobic group of fans, it never materialized. Only recently has the Star Trek universe begun to embrace LGBTQ+ characters, and it’s about time.
The majority of fans are not homophobic, but the ones who are seem to be quite vocal. Cruz’s tweet sent Trek fans rushing to defend Cruz and slam event organizers for not doing more to curb the hate. Cruz then returned to Twitter to defend the event and calm his fans.
I REALLY didn’t mean for this to blow up. It just means we have work to do. Let’s do it and move beyond this trivial moment. They’ve received enough attention, as it is. I’m grateful for ALL of your care. I forget sometimes how much this fandom can go to bat when it wants!🖖🏽♥️
“Listen, y’all… I really don’t blame the event. I only heard it,” Cruz wrote.” Couldn’t point them out, so chose to ignore it. I DON’T blame the EVENT at all! That day wasn’t about them and it wasn’t about me. It was about Star Trek, it’s legacy, it’s ideals, it’s visionary creator…”
“I REALLY didn’t mean for this to blow up,” he continued. “It just means we have work to do. Let’s do it and move beyond this trivial moment. They’ve received enough attention, as it is. I’m grateful for ALL of your care. I forget sometimes how much this fandom can go to bat when it wants!”
Star Trek: Discovery has won wide praise for including the first explicit LGBTQ+ characters in the history of the long-running franchise. Alongside Cruz, actor Anthony Rapp plays Hugh Culber’s husband Paul Stamets, while actor Blu Del Barrio portrays the couple’s adoptive trans/nonbinary teen, Adria. Trans actor Ian Alexander also has a recurring role as Adria’s former love, Gray Tal. Also, openly gay comedian Tig Notaro plays Engineer Denise "Jett" Reno who in an early episode discussed the death of her wife.
These homophobic Trekkies don’t understand the basic philosophy of Star Trek. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, built Star Trek around the idea of differences and coming together despite them. When you compare the diversity ofStar Trek: DiscoverytoStar Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek has come a long way, and I believe Roddenberry would be happy with the diversity presented in the franchise. On the bridge of the original USS Enterprise, there was a black woman, an Asian man, and a Russian during the height of the Cold War. Star Trek has come so far, yet there is still much work to be done. Progress has and is being made. No matter what century the show takes place in, we are seeing a true normalization of diversity.
Star Trek: Discovery's Lt. Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Dr. Culber (Wilson Cruz)
Actor Wil Wheaton, known for his role as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, welcomed pride month this weekend by giving a special shout-out to his LGBTQ+ fans. Wheaton, who is now 48, took to Facebook to publicly acknowledge the number of Star Trek fans that had a crush on the actor–or his character–during the show’s run.
“Over the years, I’ve met several men who have told me that their childhood crush on Wesley Crusher was a big part of them coming out and living their lives with joy and love and pride,” Wheaton wrote. “I can not even begin to tell you how much this means to me. I love it so much that I, and some of my work, were there for people (when I didn’t even know it was happening) who needed a safe place.”
As a Star Trek fan, I certainly had a crush on Wesley Crusher, but the character that really made my hear go pitter patter was Dr. Julian Bashir (portrayed by Alexander Siddig) on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Bashir has sometimes been referred to as a twink, although his character began the series in his late thirties. He obviously caught the eye of the station’s resident Cardassian tailor, Elim Garak (portrayed by Andrew Robinson). Dr. Bashir was always handsome in the series, in particular, I always loved the episode “Rivals” because of the skintight suit Bashir wears while playing racquetball.
Alexander Siddig: Dr. Julian Bashir and Today
I had crushes on other Star Trek characters as well. On Star Trek: Voyager, I had a thing for Tom Paris played by the ever-handsome Robert Duncan McNeill. Enterprise had Commander “Trip” Tucker portrayed by Connor Trinneer who seemed to spend half the series in his underwear and boy did he look good in his underwear. With Star Trek: Discovery, we now have actual gay characters, who are all surprisingly played by gay actors, to lust after. I am looking forward to the upcoming Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to see actor Ethan Peck, the grandson of actor Gregory Peck, who will be playing Spock. Peck previously played Spock during the second season of Discovery.
There are a lot of Star Trek fans out there who hate Star Trek: Discovery, but those same people have hated every new Star Trek series and movie. Some fans you can never make happy. However, while the Star Trek universe is one of diversity, equality, and free of discrimination, there have always been those who fought against that vision because the Star Trek universe really does boldly go where no show has gone before. Star Trek has continually broken barriers, but Star Trek: The Original Series (1966–1969), Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999), Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001), and Enterprise (2001–2005) all held back on the topic of LGBTQ+ individuals.
It was rumored throughout the production of Enterprise that there would be a gay cast member, but it never materialized. Deep Space Nine did feature a same-sex kiss in theepisode “Rejoined” (Season 4, Episode 6). The episode first aired on October 30, 1995, and the kiss was between two female characters: Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax and scientist Lenara Kahn. Both characters were members of the Trill society and was not meant to be a lesbian kiss. Let’s just say, it was complicated because they were a joined species.
However, Discovery has gone where no Star Trek has gone before with LGBTQ+ characters. The premiere of Discovery included a very prominent male same-sex couple, Lt. Commander Paul Stamets and Dr. Hugh Culber, who are played by openly gay actors Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz. The two characters kissed shared the first gay kiss in Star Trek history near the end of season one. The show also featured a widowed lesbian engineer, Denise "Jett" Reno, played by out actress Tig Notaro. Season 3 of Discovery premiers on October 15 and will introduce the 54-year-old sci-fi franchise’s first-ever transgender and non-binary characters. Like Stamets, Culber, and Reno, the characters will be played by actors who are LGBTQ+. In fact, the actors actually are trans and non-binary in real life.
Trans actor Ian Alexander will play Gray, a Trill, the same species as Jadzia Dax and Lenara Kahn. Non-binary actor Blu del Barrio will make their debut by playing the non-binary character Adira, an intelligent and introverted teenage amnesiac whose coming-out story will mirror del Barrio’s own real-life coming out. They will befriend Discovery’s gay couple, Stamets and Culber.
Del Barrio told GLAAD, “I honestly cannot speak highly enough of Ian. I absolutely love him, and it was so fun working alongside him. Having him join the show with me was a godsend.” Del Barrio continued, “It’s pretty overwhelming joining a show with such a well-known cast going into its third season. So, I was so thankful to have his support whenever I was freaking out. He’s a talented, hardworking actor, and an all-around magnificent human being, so it was a joy having him as a partner.”
I think it is wonderful that Discovery continues to feature inclusivity in the show. The third season of the series follows the crew of the USS Discovery transported 930 years into the future and among a highly advanced but troubled society in dire need of their help. It appears that the Federation is only a shadow of its former self. The above trailer for the season depicts a Federation banner from the future with just six stars, suggesting only a handful of planets remain as part of the organization. The trailer also suggests that Starfleet no longer exists. In the preview, David Ajala's Cleveland Booker notices Burnham's emblem and refers to Starfleet as a "ghost." The rest, we will just have to wait until October 15 to see what’s going to happen. If it’s anything like previous seasons, we won’t fully know what’s going on until at least several episodes into the season.
One of my favorite characters in the Star Trek universe is a Cardassian. In general, the Cardassians were not known as the nicest of races. Captain Edward Jellico, who was briefly in command of the Enterprise-D, said of them, "Cardassians are like... timber wolves… predators... bold in large numbers... cautious by themselves... and with an instinctive need to establish a dominant position in any social gathering." The Cardassians were similar to the Romulans in their xenophobic tendencies, and also shared the Romulan belief there is no such thing as luck. Like the Breen, they treated their prisoners with little tolerance or sympathy; they had no qualms using torture to extract information. Some Cardassians were even known to enjoy torturing their prisoners whether there was information to be extracted or not.
Ideal Cardassian life was one of complete loyalty and servitude to the State and to the family. Like the Chinese, family was the building block of Cardassian society, and as such, the hierarchical system of respect also applied to one's rulers and one's family. The Cardassian government was assumed by its citizens to be omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent; the government was anything but benevolent. An example of the Cardassian approach to life was found in their jurisprudence and criminal trials in which the conclusion was always determined beforehand: the ruling of each case was a guilty verdict; the purpose of the proceeding was not justice in the Human sense, but instead bringing the offender to recognize the power and benevolence of the State. A trial, therefore, was an opportunity for the State to reveal how someone's guilt was proven by what they considered, "the most efficient criminal investigation system in the quadrant."
Almost all Cardassians lived in fear of the Obsidian Order, the chief intelligence agency of the Cardassian Union, whose constant surveillance had led to the sudden elimination of numerous "traitors." It was said The Order was so efficient a Cardassian citizen couldn't sit down to a meal without each dish being duly noted and recorded including its preparation and the exact measurement of each ingredient. Dr. Julian Bashir wondered what happened to people who ate something that was "not in agreement" with the Order, and Odo noted that people had "disappeared" for less. Every Cardassian home was equipped with surveillance equipment to keep an eye on its citizens. Only members of the Central Command, the military leaders of Cardassia, could turn off the cameras and only occasionally. The Order was the ultimate Big Brother.
Some of the alien races of Star Trek, especially the enemies of the Federation, had an equivalent in Earth history especially during the Cold War era of The Original Series. The Klingons represented the Soviets, the Romulans were like the Communist Chinese, the Cardassians were representative of Nazi Germany, the Bajorans similar to the persecuted Jews of Europe. Cardassians took control of Bajor in 2319 establishing the Bajoran Occupational Government. Initially, the Bajoran people offered them little resistance. However, the Cardassians rapidly pacified the planet and began a coordinated scheme of strip-mining, forced labor, slavery, and genocide. The brutality of the Cardassian military drove many Bajorans to form a resistance to the Occupation. Using guerrilla and terrorist tactics, the resistance continually harassed Cardassian forces. Under constant attack and unable to subdue the Bajoran resistance, facing pressure from both internal civilian elements in the Cardassian Central Command and from the Federation, the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor in 2369. However, many Cardassians, such as Gul Dukat, continued to want to regain control of Bajor and to exterminate its people.
While the Cardassians were a brutal race, they sometimes showed signs of being a kind and warmhearted people. One of the most complex characters in Star Trek history is one of my favorites, Elim Garak. He was the Cardassian tailor and Promenade shopkeeper of Garak's Clothiers who lived on Deep Space Nine. He first appeared in the episode, “Past Prologue” where he introduced himself to Dr. Bashir who believed Garak was a spy. As soon as I saw this conversation, I knew Garak would be an interesting character. He proved to have some of the best lines in the series beginning with this: after Garak asks Bashir to stop by his shop if he desires new apparel or some interesting conversation, Bashir says, "You're very kind, Mister Garak." To which Garak replies, "Oh, it's just Garak. Plain, simple Garak." Right away viewers knew there was nothing plain or simple about Garak. He had previously been an agent of the Obsidian Order but had been exiled to Terok Nor, the Cardassian name for Deep Space Nine.
The true reason for Garak’s exile is never revealed during the series. When he does tell Bashir why he was exiled, he tells him three different stories all involving a man named Elim which Bashir later learns is Garak’s first name. When Bashir asks Garak, "Of all the stories you told me which ones were true and which ones weren't?" Garak replies, "My dear Doctor, they're all true." Bashir says, "Even the lies?" to which Garak replies in his standard obfuscation, "Especially the lies." Garak once told Bashir, "Truth is in the eye of the beholder, Doctor. I never tell the truth because I don't believe there is such a thing. That is why I prefer the straight-line simplicity of cutting cloth." Garak believed, "Lying is a skill like any other. And if you want to maintain a level of excellence, you have to practice constantly." Bashir once tried to tell Garak the fable of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." While Bashir believed the moral to be that lying too much will cause people to never believe a person, Garak retorted he believed the point was, "That you should never tell the same lie twice." As his father, Enabran Tain, the one-time head of the Obsidian Order once said of him, one of Garak's basic philosophies is, "Never tell the truth when a lie will do." Garak once explained his belief that, "the truth is usually just an excuse for a lack of imagination."
Andrew Robinson
Garak, though, was more than just a pathological liar. Played by Andrew Robinson, originally a stage actor, he is also known for his portrayals of the serial killer Scorpio in the crime film, Dirty Harry (1971); Larry Cotton in the horror film, Hellraiser (1987); and as the title character in the ABC television film, Liberace (1988). Without Robinson, the character of Garak never would have become as intriguing as it did. In fact, the character might have had only one appearance in the series. Robinson commented, "Garak is one of those guys, we all know someone a bit like him who you can't trust as far as you can spit. The moment you see him you put your hand on your wallet, and the moment he opens his mouth you know he's going to lie to you, but yet, somehow, you'd rather be in his company than with almost anybody else. He's a charming rogue, you can't deny it. Even I get sucked in by him. Although it's me playing him. When I see Garak on TV, I swear to God this is true, I'm fascinated." Robinson also said of the character, "He's all subtext. If a smart guy like Garak says he's 'plain and simple', you realize he's not plain and not simple. There is a lot going on. Regardless of how innocuous or simple each line is, there's always something going on underneath that belies the line. And his eyes and the tone of his voice say something different than the words he's speaking. It's not an easy thing to work with subtext, but when you do it well, you really get people's attention."
Garak was also one of the most sexually ambiguous characters in Star Trek history. Robinson stated in an interview, "I started out playing Garak as someone who doesn't have a defined sexuality. He's not gay, he's not straight, it's a non-issue for him. Basically, his sexuality is inclusive. But, it's Star Trek, and there were a couple of things working against that. One is that Americans are very nervous about sexual ambiguity. Also, this is a family show; they have to keep it on the 'straight and narrow' so I backed off from it. Originally, in that first episode, I loved the man's absolute fearlessness about presenting himself to an attractive Human being. The fact that the attractive Human being is a man (Bashir) doesn't make any difference to him, but that was a little too sophisticated, I think. For the most part, the writers supported the character beautifully, but in that area, they just made a choice not to go there, and if they don't want to go there, I can't, because the writing doesn't support it." Ira Steven Behr, the executive producer of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, commented, "I wish we could have done a little bit more with the Garak character…. I mean, he was clearly gay or queer or however you want to say it. I think I would have loved to have taken that and seen where that went and how that affected his relationship with Bashir." I would have loved for the show’s creators to have explored that part of Garak. It took twenty-five more years before we saw LGBTQ+ characters in Star Trek: Discovery. There had been a few hints, or even winks, to LGBTQ+ characters. It could have come sooner and been bolder with Garak’s character, and we wouldn’t have had to wait twenty-five years.
Behr once said, "Garak is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. So, who he is, what he really is, who the hell knows? And I think it took a more sophisticated audience to really get behind that kind of a character, because back in the day, it seemed anyway, that mystery and ... I don't want to say subtlety, but something along those lines ... that's not what people wanted, they wanted their TNG good, bad, everything very clear, everything very clean, everything very understandable. And at the end of the day, everything was safe. Everything was basically safe. And Garak is not a safe character. The fact that now he's so popular says something about how the audience has matured. And that's a good thing." Hans Beimler, a writer, producer, and script editor of many Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes, commented, "To me, the guy that embodied the show was Garak. He was a fuckin' spy, man! He was a bad guy in a way. But you got to know and understand him. And he got to know us and understand us. Even appreciate us. He wasn't such a bad guy at the end of the show."
Garak had been intended to be a one-off character; Robinson said he first portrayed the character, because he needed money that month to pay his bills. The producers were impressed with Robinson's performance and decided to develop the character after Robinson agreed to return. The decision to incorporate Garak into more of the series led to Garak becoming a pivotal character transforming him into someone of importance, of unusual complexity, and of resonance. Garak became known throughout the series for the ruthlessness of his past with the Obsidian Order, but at various times, he uses contacts on Cardassia to help Starfleet and even the Bajorans. He was known to be a witty conversationalist and a skilled tailor, but underneath his friendly and charming exterior, he was a proficient assassin, saboteur, and expert liar able to adapt to a variety of situations. Occasionally, he was used by Starfleet as a backchannel to the Cardassians when a direct message was not possible. By the end of the series, he was a different man.
On numerous occasions, Garak was seen to have internal conflicts between his morals and his obligations to the Cardassian Central Command. One of my favorite episodes is, “In the Pale Moonlight.” This episode shows the Federation on the brink of losing the Federation-Dominion War. With mounting losses and the specter of defeat, Captain Sisko must put aside his Federation morals in an attempt to turn the tide of the war. Sisko enlists Garak's help to "persuade" the Romulans to join the Federation/Klingon alliance. Deep down, Sisko knew Garak could do things that he, morally, could not. Garak tells him at the end of the episode, "That's why you came to me, isn't it, Captain? Because you knew I could do those things that you weren't capable of doing. Well, it worked. And you'll get what you wanted: a war between the Romulans and the Dominion. And if your conscience is bothering you, you should soothe it with the knowledge that you may have just saved the entire Alpha Quadrant, and all it cost was the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal… and the self-respect of one Starfleet officer. I don't know about you, but I'd call that a bargain."
"Star Trek" is a sci-fi universe with a positive outlook on Earth's future. The United Federation of Planets uses its Starfleet armada of spaceships for humanitarian and peacekeeping missions. Many of the storylines are allegories of contemporary culture. I will repeat what I said yesterday: from the very beginning, Star Trek has held a firm belief represented by the symbol representing IDIC: infinite diversity in infinite combinations. I agree with the idea that Star Trek can teach us so much about what humanity can become. However, Star Trek often had to deal with the problems of the past to create this future Star Trek universe. As was well-established in the Star Trek universe originally envisioned by Gene Roddenberry, society had to go through Hell before reaching a state of utopia, and the episode “Past Tense” from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is part of an examination of that Hell.
“Past Tense” shows what the United States was like in the 2020s through the lens of the 1990s. The year is 2024. Sisko, Bashir, and Dax find themselves trapped 300 years in the past confronting one of the darkest hours in Earth's history. The time period is best explained by Sisko who teaches Bashir about 21st century history and the Sanctuary Districts:
Sisko: By the early 2020s, there was a place like this in every major city in the United States.
Bashir: Why are these people in here? Are they criminals?
Sisko: No, people with criminal records weren't allowed in the Sanctuary Districts.
Bashir: Then what did they do to deserve this?
Sisko: Nothing. They're just people without jobs or places to live.
Bashir: So, they get put in here?
Sisko: Welcome to the 21st century, Doctor.
Bashir comments to Sisko, “21st century history isn't one of my strong points. Too depressing.” Bashir would definitely be horrified at the way the United States government and other governments around the world have dealt with COVID-19. But back to the episode, the conditions of the Sanctuary Districts lead to an event known in the Star Trek universe as the Bell Riots. As Sisko explains to Bashir, “The Sanctuary residents will take over the District. Some of the guards will be taken hostage. The government will send in troops to restore order. Hundreds of Sanctuary residents will be killed." The dialog between Sisko and Bashir continues:
Sisko: I sympathize, Doctor, but if it will make you feel any better, the Riots will be one of the watershed events of the 21st century. Gabriel Bell will see to that.
Bashir: Bell?
Sisko: The man they named the Riots after. He is one of the Sanctuary residents who will be guarding the hostages. The government troops will storm this place based on rumors that the hostages have been killed. It turns out that the hostages were never harmed, because of Gabriel Bell. In the end, Bell sacrifices his own life to save them. He'll become a national hero. Outrage over his death, and the death of other residents, will change public opinion about the Sanctuaries. They'll be torn down and the United States will finally begin correcting the social problems it has struggled with for over a hundred years.
The riots over the death of George Floyd and others killed by police may be the start of a change in American history like the Bell Riots were in 2024. We can only hope. In 1995, when this episode aired, who would have predicted that only a few years before the fictional Bell Riots, the United States would see nationwide protests on racial injustice?
Ira Steven Behr, executive producer of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and one of the story creators for “Past Tense,” was inspired to come up with the idea for the Sanctuary Districts through his real-life experience in the early 1990s. In an interview for a Season 3 DVD special feature about “Past Tense,” Behr said:
I was down in Santa Monica one day, and there [were] all these homeless people there, and it was a beautiful day, the ocean, sky, sun, and homeless people everywhere. And all these tourists, and people up and about, and they were walking past these homeless people as if they were part of the scenery. It was like some artist had done some interesting rendition of juxtaposition between nature and urban decay right there in front of me. And the fact was that nobody seemed to care, at all. And I said, 'There has to be something about that, where does that go? How far do you take that?' And that evolved into the idea for concentration camps essentially for the homeless.
Dax and the Wealthy Businessman
Behr also stated there is a subtle examination of racism in this episode. When Dax is discovered, she is treated like royalty and taken in by a wealthy San Francisco businessman, but when Sisko and Bashir are found, they are treated like criminals. Of this situation, Behr said, "The simple fact is, a beautiful white woman is always going to get much better treatment than two brown-skinned men." We see the contrast between the life of the wealthy San Franciscans Dax meets, and the discarded people of the Sanctuary Districts whom Sisko and Bashir encounter.
At the end of the second part of “Past Tense,” Bashir asks Sisko, "You know, Commander, having seen a little of the 21st century, there is one thing I don't understand: how could they have let things get so bad?" Sisko replies, "That's a good question. I wish I had an answer." And, it is a good question. We may not have Sanctuary Districts, but we still have massive inequality. There are serious problems in the United States which our current president has made worse. Trump has highlighted inequalities and injustices in the U.S., at least for some of us. Alternatively, Trump supporters relish the inequalities, because for them, it means someone is less fortunate than they are. It’s the same reason that poor white men who owned no slaves fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. As long as there were slaves, they weren’t the lowest social class. It was a similar situation in the Civil Rights Movement. Poor whites favored discrimination and segregation because it put them above black people. The same is true today with Trump’s followers—many of whom would rather suffer from the damage done by Trump to the nation’s economy, healthcare status, and many other issues rather than to allow equality in America.
When the episode aired, it received some criticism for being too preachy, liberal, and "soapbox like" something which disappointed Behr, who felt the show had important things to say, and treated a serious situation in a realistic manner; "We're not going to solve anything with two hours of TV. The homeless are still there. The problem hasn't gone away. But maybe just one person saw this and started to see the problem in a different way." The real 2020s may not have Sanctuary Districts, but there are segregated sections to every city; whether they segregate the rich from the poor or blacks from whites or whatever the dividing line is, we still live in a society segregated by race, income status, and a host of other perceived differences. We continue to have homeless and displaced persons. We need to do better.
I will say this though, through most of the Star Trek universe, LGBTQ+ issues were rarely, and never directly, dealt with. Yes, Commander Riker of The Next Generation did fall in love with a nonbinary individual, and Jadzia Dax did have a same-sex kiss, and there were a few other instances, but none dealt with LGBTQ+ individuals. When Voyager and Enterprise premiered, rumors circulated there would be an LGBTQ+ individual on the crew of those ships; it never materialized. It wasn’t until Discovery that we see fully-fledged LGBTQ+ individuals in the marriage of Paul Stamets and Dr. Hugh Culber, plus the character of Jett Reno. I also recognize in Star Trek Beyond Sulu is seen, ever so briefly, in a same-sex relationship which was done as a homage to George Takei, the original Sulu. The Star Trek universe is becoming more inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community, but it’s been a long time coming.
