“Star Trek” was always groundbreaking in diverse casting and pushing the boundaries; the original series had a pointedly multinational crew without people of color being stereotyped, and most famously even interracial kisses were featured on occasion. The next generation was not quite so daring when it premiered in 1987, though no less than three alien characters were featured (one being a Klingon, an old enemy of the Federation, and played by a black man), the chief medical officer and chief security officer were both women, and there was a character who provided representation for the disabled as well (oh, and who also happened to be black).
One form of representation not already explored in the original series was absent, however: gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender people. Perhaps in 1987 this wouldn’t have been surprising; after all, a spin-off with a new cast had never been done before, and at the time it was uncertain if the very idea of “Star Trek without Kirk, Spock, and McCoy” would even work, which no doubt is a big reason why similar characters to the originals exploring the galaxy on a ship named Enterprise was chosen as the premise of the new show. A daring new premise would have to wait until the next Star Trek series, “Deep Space Nine”, which was set on a starbase rather than a starship.
Still, an LGBT character could have been introduced to the main cast at any time, yet seven seasons of “The Next Generation” passed without any such representation being included. “Star Trek: Voyager” largely steered clear of the whole topic, and even as late as 2001, when it was widely rumored that Malcom Reed, a character on “Star Trek: Enterprise”, was going to be gay, it turned out in the actual making of the show that he was straight! Clear to 2005, when Star Trek went off the airwaves for the first time since before “Encounter at Farpoint” in 1987, there was no LGBT representation at all. Retrospectives attribute this to Rick Berman’s influence as showrunner for the vast majority of this time period; apparently he did not wish there to be LGBT characters, thus making this entire era of Star Trek far more conservative than it had any right to be.
Even if Malcom Reed had proven to be gay in “Enterprise”, it’s not a particularly interesting alternate-historical what-if, since even by 2001 gay or lesbian characters on television were almost “been there, done that”. It just wouldn’t have been particularly edgy or groundbreaking.
No, the really interesting time for Star Trek to have broken ground for the LGBT community would have been as soon as “The Next Generation” premiered in 1987. That was when the AIDS crisis was near its peak, along with the backlash against 1970s-style free love and alternative sexualities. Including an LGBT character in the main cast would have been genuinely groundbreaking, since as far as I know that was not at all common yet in 1987. Even less common would have been a depiction of a not-so-straight sexuality as being completely accepted as if it’s no big deal, which is in keeping with the progressive and inclusive ethos of the Federation. If more boundary-pushing was desired to follow up the original series, this would have been the direction to lean into.
Of course it would have to be handled with care. I myself have wondered about all the what-ifs for the set of characters we know and love from “The Next Generation”, but for the sake of this exercise let’s not stray too far from what we got in real life. Where might there have been room for gay or lesbian or bisexual representation?
Queering our favorite Characters (or not…)
Captain Picard worked so well as a stoic, chaste, and, yes, straight type that I would never want to tamper with his sexuality much. Jonathan Frakes’s Riker worked as a Kirk-esque womanizer a bit too well for me to want to change that dynamic either, especially in contrast to Picard. Though I personally am a huge fan of the idea of Jeffrey Combs as Riker; he was apparently seriously considered for the part, and he would have lent an intense, introspective, cerebral energy to the role that would have led to a very different Riker as the series progressed, one better able to complement the Picard-and-Data duo that became so dominant by the time of the TNG movies. The three likely would have worked very well together. Could Jeffrey Combs’s Riker have been played as gay? Perhaps; I think he could have brought it off better than Frakes, at any rate. But with both Picard and Data being akin to monks, I still think we need one character in the trio who takes the girls to bed. Combs’s Riker might have scored better among intense artistic intellectual types than Frakes’s Riker, but he should still score in my view. 💘
Data of course barely even has a sexuality, and he represents a character arc that’s straight out of classic science fiction: the confrontation between an artificial life-form and humanity. As such, layering an alternative sexuality on his character would perhaps portray it as strange or deviant in some way in subtext, and frankly is a bit too much representational baggage to saddle on the character anyway. Data’s degree of other-ness for the audience is just right as it is, in my view.
Worf has the same issue: being a Klingon raised by humans confronting that culture at once as an insider and an outsider is enough to place on his character. Besides, Worf being straight enables us to gain a unique window into what “normal” (for want of a better word) Klingon sexuality and relations looks like, which if I were in charge of the show isn’t an opportunity I’d pass up. You could portray a higher degree of bisexuality as something of a Klingon custom, and Worf could have indulged in it, but once again it portrays through subtext alternative sexualities as something weird and deviant, in this case literally alien. If that was the only LGBT representation we got…I’d sooner we not have gotten any at all. Ugh. So that’s out.
Geordi La Forge too already has some representational baggage, in his case that of disabled people. Interestingly, he’s depicted in the show as being luckless with women, but very intimate and successful with machines and computers…to the point that he literally falls in love with the Enterprise’s computer in one episode! Okay, okay, it was a holographic representation of Leah Brahms, but in a sequel episode it’s revealed that the projection he fell in love with had more of the computer in it than the genuine Leah (who he also had zero luck with, as in all of his other relationships with real girls). It’s to the point that fans have dubbed Geordi a “robosexual”, and while this angle was (perhaps mercifully?) not explored or accentuated further in the real show, if I were in charge of it that’s the direction I’d push in for his character, if anywhere in particular as far as sexuality is concerned.
There’s Tasha Yar, but making her a lesbian or bisexual would be just a bit too stereotypical for a (no offense intended) rather butch-seeming lady, and in the real show she was killed off unceremoniously midway through the first season. Like, couldn’t they have made a big episode with a heroic sacrifice or some such? They certainly would have if it were a season of “Star Trek: Voyager”. Oh well…
Deanna Troi being lesbian, or perhaps better yet, bisexual might have been the most obvious angle, but Betazoids (even half-Betazoids like her; for some reason they decided to make her half-human) are already stereotyped as being sensual. Part of Troi’s role on the show is to be a female target for male guest characters’ affections, so we shouldn’t deny that to the audience; making her bisexual might once again portray alternative sexualities as other, exotic, or deviant in a way that would be unbecoming to a Star Trek show. Not to mention it’s a bit too reminiscent of the concept of the Deltans from “The Motion Picture”, who are supposed to have a highly developed sexuality (Riker and Troi are based on Decker and Ilia, by the way; originally the latter two were to featured in “Star Trek: Phase II” before it was decided to make the pilot of that show into a motion picture instead, which inadvertently kicked off the original movie series).
Forget Malcom Reed: enter Beverly Crusher?
Which brings us to Beverly Crusher. Uh-huh. Now here’s a really interesting candidate. As it was Dr. Crusher didn’t have too much to do on the show, aside from the functions of the chief medical officer and being Wesley’s mother. Well…she did have an off-again/on-again romance with Captain Picard, which dates pretty far back. Already in “Encounter at Farpoint” it’s detailed that Picard brought Wesley’s father’s body back home, so the Crushers knew him before.
Actually where it gets really fancy is that as of around the time the series premiered the subtext was supposed to be that Wesley Crusher was actually Captain Picard’s illegitimate son, and this fact was kept hidden, but the writers eventually chose not to follow up on that idea, and it was silently dropped by the later seasons. If it was followed up on it would have lent a whole new dimension to all three of those characters.
Beverly Crusher is just an ordinary human, so making her into an LGBT character wouldn’t have a subtext of it being alien or “other”, and Troi is already there to be a love interest for the male guest stars (as well as to have someone for the straight women in the audience to identify with). Crusher had a few romances with men over the course of the show, but deleting them wouldn’t alter her characterization much.
Meanwhile, making Crusher a lesbian would show an LGBT character in a key, even intimate position of trust with the rest of the crew, so a setting where this is accepted right out in the open by the other characters as if it’s no big deal would have sent a strong progressive statement. On the flip side, lesbian woman characters didn’t ruffle quite as many feathers even in 1987 as gay man characters did, perhaps because girl-on-girl action is thought of by many straight men in audiences as being hot rather than gross (in contrast to boy-on-boy action). So for a “first LGBT character” a lesbian might be an ideal choice.
The kicker comes in the form of making Crusher a lesbian and keeping the plot thread of Wesley as Picard’s illegitimate son. Perhaps Crusher had a fling with Picard a long time ago as an experiment, but it turned out she didn’t like men after all and broke it off. It also turned out that she got pregnant as a result of the encounter, but decided to keep the baby; perhaps she always intended to someday mother a child on her own, so the stars aligned for her in just the right way. In 1987 that would have perhaps sent another strong progressive statement; keep in mind this is roughly the same era as “Murphy Brown” offending Dan Quayle’s sensibilities, along with that of many other social conservatives. Single motherhood as a lifestyle choice was (and to a large extent still is) taboo. Though it could be played up in such a way as to witness the reunion of the boy with his father, with that being a positive influence on him, so there could be some meat in there for more traditional-minded audience members as well. 😀
More importantly, the idea of finding your own sexual orientation being totally normal would be in keeping with the human ethos of the Star Trek future…and it does introduce the intriguing possibility of Crusher having broken up with Picard because she didn’t like men, not because she didn’t like him per se. There are so many potential layers that could be written in there.
Another gay Crusher?
For that matter, Wesley Crusher is the remaining member of the main cast and, precocious intellect aside, he’s just an ordinary human as well. Would it be laying it on a bit too thick for him to be a gay character? It would be realistic in as much as LGBT orientation tends to run in families to some extent…and we would actually get to see in the show how a young man finds his own identity and sexuality, much like it’s stated his mother did.
Wesley apparently is supposed to be 15 as of “Encounter at Farpoint” (for what it’s worth the actor, Wil Wheaton, was the same age: 15), and so it’s entirely plausible that he’d only discover his sexuality as the series progresses. Especially for brainier types it’s common to be in your own head and a bit underdeveloped until later in youth, perhaps to the point of being scared by girls (or boys, as the case may be) still in one’s mid-teens.
This would even enable the writers to gauge the reaction to Dr. Crusher being lesbian, and then if it’s favorable enough introduce a slightly more daring boy-on-boy romance with Wesley Crusher, with it all coming across like it’s a natural development of the show’s arc. Hehehehe.
A Field Commission for Wesley Crusher…among Others?
As an aside, the entire idea of Wesley Crusher being a boy genius could have been handled much more effectively and in a much less annoying fashion if it were more normal in the 24th century Federation for able youths to be trained out in space, perhaps even receiving field commissions and learning on the job rather than being necessarily expected to attend classrooms at Starfleet Academy on Earth for four years at a stretch. Which is only realistic in a setting where there’s a ship with thousands of families spending years at a time out on the frontier.
The whole idea of the Federation being particularly choosy about how old a student is and how they’re trained to meet Starfleet standards has always struck me as too conservative anyway. Yes, it does double down on the “British Empire in space” vibes, but it just makes too much sense. Besides, from an out-of-universe perspective, adding a field-commission track opens up a lot more storytelling possibilities, which would be brand-new, since we saw very little of how exactly Starfleet personnel are trained in the original series (yes, there are references to the Academy throughout the show, but it’s never explicitly stated that in-person academy attendance is required…and since TNG was set a century later that norm could have easily changed anyway).
Even more drama could come courtesy of Captain Picard himself having trained in the frontier and risen up through the ranks via field commissions, without having attended the Academy in-person…at least at first. I’m thinking he might have been a blue-uniformed science officer in some kind of Starfleet unit devoted to archaeology. Yes, Picard’s penchant for archaeology is only revealed later, but if I remember correctly it was Patrick Stewart’s idea, and it makes a lot of sense anyway, so it could have been included in the series earlier. Perhaps Picard transferred to the red-uniformed command division later in his career, courtesy of the “command school” we hear mentioned later in “Star Trek: Voyager” (likely we hear about it then because Janeway was part of the science division originally). This alternate version of Picard could have gone to the Academy at that point, albeit in a different capacity than a young cadet (he may already have been middle-aged at this point).
Anyway, a more flexible path into Starfleet would make more sense, in as much as the Academy itself is rather small and rigid, real-life institutions like the US military don’t tend to exclusively recruit officers from their academies, and, once again, the context of the world makes it make more sense. More dramatic possibilities could come courtesy of examinations that Wesley (or, in his youth in the backstory, Picard) is required to take periodically to make sure his training is meeting Starfleet standards, done either remotely on board or perhaps in starbases the Enterprise visits. These starbases could also serve as sites where field-commissioned new officers like Wesley could receive ad-hoc training.
Another possibility would be assignments away from their “home” starship being required as a condition of advancing their Starfleet training, as it might be desirable to prove a cadet can function away from their home and family in Starfleet service. Picture a science ship taking Wesley, as a fresh-faced science officer, on an expedition for a two-part episode and his separation from the ship and his family being a source of intrigue for the story (heck, maybe he even has his first romance on board this other ship 😉 ). “The Next Generation” could have milked a big two-part episode out of that premise.
I thought I’d throw that out there…it certainly would have made for a much more interesting show than what we actually did get! Hehehe.
More to the point, in 1987 especially it would have been genuinely groundbreaking. A risky move, for sure, but that’s what Star Trek is all about.
Breaking more Ground…
For that matter making the show’s cast less Anglo-American and more genuinely multi-national would have been a much-overdue move…one that, to their credit, they kinda tried to do in TNG as it was with Jean-Luc Picard, before he turned out to be the most English Frenchman in the history of television (the right move if you’re casting Patrick Stewart in the part, but still!). Marina Sirtis as Troi put on some kind of odd Greco-British accent, but as far as I know what nationality her human lineage was supposed to be was never specified. Jonathan Frakes is too American for his own good, so I understand why they never even bothered trying to make him into something else, but Jeffrey Combs’s Riker perhaps could have come off well as some kind of European type. I don’t know.
Compared to the original series the later shows dropped the ball on this aspect (Chekhov was supposed to just be Russian, a boldness of character origin that we don’t see in any later series through at least “Enterprise”).
But at least my ideas sketched out here for LGBT representation would have been both bold and refreshing, pushing the boundaries in 1987 much like the original series did in 1966, and perhaps setting a foundation and reinforcing a precedent that would lead to even “riskier” characterizations and storylines in subsequent spin-off shows. Be it an alternate Deep Space Nine, an alternate Voyager, or even something else completely. Now there’s another thought…