In my grade school years I devoured westerns, mostly Louis L’Amour, and science-fiction, mostly hard, mostly Arthur C. Clarke, Hal Clement style stuff, but also Ray Bradbury’s poetic mindbenders, and E.E. Smith’s space operas and James Blish’s Star Trek novelizations.  Once upon a time I adored Larry Niven’s "Known Space" tales.  Then I read an interview with him in Future Life magazine (back in the 70s), where he averred in response to a question about gay rights, that giving homosexuals what they wanted would be a good way of breeding them out of the population (I’ve always wondered what Kerry O’Quinn, the publisher, thought when he read that).  That was when I began to realize that science fiction folk weren’t necessarily a very broad minded lot. 

Year later I’d run into the same set of knuckle dragging prejudices among fantasy world fans and authors.  I and a few other readers had an online…er…disagreement…with Richard Pini, co-author of the Elfquest series of comics, about the absence of gay elves in the storyline.  Understand that by that time it had been very, Very well established that the Pini’s elves were a thoroughly uninhibited lot (the orgy scene in EQ 17 comes to mind…).   It has always struck me as downright bizarre that Richard and Wendy Pini could write a storyline that had as its major plot device, the mating of a female elf with wolves in order to produce a race of elves better adapted to their world, and yet be so goddamned squeamish about the idea of same sex elven lovers.

But people Do learn and grow.  A younger Wil Wheaton once mouthed off crap about gays in Star Trek that an older Wil Wheaton would later regret and apologize for.  In fact, Wheaton later did volunteer work against a California referendum against same sex marriage because it so outraged him (that, and the fact that he’s a fellow geek, is why he’s on my blog roll). 

But you still see an amazing amount of anti-gay crap in science-fiction and fantasy fandom and it’s a big reason why, much as I still like the genres, I keep the scene at arm’s length.  I was doing a little research the other day, and came across some reader reviews of Red King, one of the latest in the Star Trek franchise novels.  Apparently one or more characters in it (I haven’t read it) are gay.  This causes some concern to one reader…

Too much diversity!

Star Trek novels are known for introducing a variety of different species, cultures, and religions, but this series bombards the reader with so many at once that the storyline becomes muddled and one is left begging for a glossary. I hope that the third book, written by a different author, will narrow its focus somewhat.

I don’t take issue with the authors for including a gay character in the books. It makes sense, with that many different species, that someone would be. What I find annoying is that they focus so much time on him and seem to feel the need to have one of the other characters either make a pass at him or give him that "knowing look" in each one of the books. He’s gay, I get it! Get on with the the exploration and adventure!

…and outrage by another. 

Gay, Gay, Gay. Enough Already

Gene Roddenberry creator of Star Trek established via interviews and convention appearances that he felt that homosexuality was a desease that would no longer exist in the 23rd century. It is a slap in the face to his vision and his ideas to fill his universe with gay characters when it is so against what Star Trek stood for (social illnesses being done away with). I could tolerate this inclusion in the story if the writers, one of which is gay, hadn’t tried to shovel it down my throught every time I came across one of their gay characters. I can only hope that these characters will be pushed back or their preferences buried in the next installment in the series now that they are no longer being written by the two that penned this book. Not Recommended unless you are into the gay scene

As I said, I haven’t read the book, but I strongly doubt that Paramount would let pornography be published under their own imprint.  So probably the only thing on display in that book would have been another character little different from any of the other Trek characters save that they mate to their own sex.  As opposed to…I dunno…a wolf or something.  Yet that’s all it takes for some folks to start bellyaching about gay being shoved down their throats.  Well…let it be said that not everyone agreed…

…dumb a*s! Gene Roddenberry never said that he thought homosexuality is a disease. Get your sh*t right! Stupid people like this are what make Star Trek’s future look so promising. Because people like L. Redman won’t be around. People like him with his type of belief will be long extinct. Dumb Sh*t! If you like Star Trek read the book. It’s good.

Gene Roddenberry did announce shortly before his death, that Star Trek: The Next Generation would begin featuring gay characters on a regular basis.  But after he died, that promise was quickly trashcanned by Paramount.  In fact to this day the Trek universe has no regular gay characters in it.  I don’t think it’s because the executives at Paramount share the views of the reader above, who said that homosexuality is a disease that will be cured by the 24th century, but it might as well be.  Roddenberry understood that stories about the future, are really stories about who we are now.  And who we are now is Brokeback Mountain couldn’t win best picture, because John Wayne was rolling over in his grave.

[Update…] I found this link to a good article on AfterElton.Com about the issue of Gays in Trek…

“Just to get Star Trek on TV was an astounding move,” George Takei–the openly gay actor who starred as Star Trek’s Mr. Sulu–says in an interview with AfterElton. “The program execs were baffled. They did not know what to do with it! Now, we are in the 21st century, and this is speculation, but I really think that if Gene were still with us today, he would have been equally bold for our times today and addressed the issue of equality for gays, lesbians, transgenders and bisexuals.”

So, why hasn’t Star Trek entered this final frontier?

Many blame Rick Berman, Star Trek’s longtime executive producer. While Berman has never publicly said he has no plans in the long-term for gay characters on the show, many fans have read cryptic messages into some things he has mentioned over the years. In a 2002 interview with USAToday.com, Berman addresses the subject matter.

“That was really the wishful thinking of some people who were constantly at us,” Berman states. “But we don’t see heterosexual couples holding hands on the show, so it would be somewhat dishonest of us to see two gay men or lesbians holding hands.”

But in Star Trek: Insurrection, Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) are seen holding hands at the end of the movie. Indeed, Star Trek has often shown characters kissing and embracing. And fans have desired more than just handholding, hoping instead for a well-rounded character with as many virtues and flaws as their heterosexual counterparts.

In an exclusive interview with AfterElton, Andy Mangels–Trek’s only openly gay writer, having written over a dozen Star Trek themed novels–says he believes blame lies with Berman. “I have never met Rick Berman, and he has never expressed any specific attitudes directly to me. That said, not one single actor, staff member, or Paramount employee has ever once defended him from charges of homophobia, and many have accused him of it.

"Berman was ultimately responsible for killing almost every pitch for gay characters, and in interviews, was mealy-mouthed and waffling about the need for GLB T representation. At the very least, he was gutless and didn’t care about GLBT representation. From the information and evidence I’ve seen, heard, and read, I believe that Berman is the reason we never saw gays on Star Trek I shed no tears that he’s gone, except that he did his best to ruin the franchise on his way out.”

Go read the rest…it’s a really interesting read.