Man, The Mary Sue is knocking my socks off, lately. Them dames have their fingers on the pulse, child!
Today, sports writer and Twitter wizard Dan Wohl posted an essay that goes straight to the little gay geek heart in all of us. Direct hit, captain!
I love Star Trek. I don’t think there’s any franchise more central to my geek life. There’s a lot of unreal universes out there that I enjoy learning about, but I’m sure there’s none that I would more like to actually live in than the optimistic idea of our future that is Star Trek.
The ’60s-produced original series included a woman of color bridge officer who was cited as an inspiration by Mae Jemison (who became the first black woman in space) and Whoopi Goldberg (who ended up a Star Trek star herself). The more recent series’ increased speculative-science focus led Stephen Hawking, on a visit to the Next Generation set, to say “I’m working on that” when passing the warp core prop.
There’s so much to feel positive about in Star Trek, and over the decades it’s generally done a fine job of showing us how we could, and should, be. But there’s one particular area of social justice that the franchise has failed to live up to its standards on, and it remains a blight on the series in my estimation. I’m talking about the fact that there has never, despite years of promises and false starts, been an openly gay or lesbian character in the canon Star Trekuniverse.
But I have a proposal to change that. J.J. Abrams, if you’re listening, I think you should make Sulu gay.
Wohl goes on to examine LGBT issues in Roddenberry's galactic utopia, examining how the glaring lack of any single out, proud queer character in such a hugely influential fictional universe is, well, a problem.
If you're at all a Trekker and invested in the new generation of classic characters, there's a lot to admire in Wohl's clever and thoughtful essay. He finishes thusly but I very much encourage you to click through and read it in full:
There’s one thing that makes me tentative about this idea. George Takei does not play Sulu in the new movies, but if such a decision were made the idea of his version being gay as well might become a popular assumption. I think making Sulu gay as a tribute to Takei would be fitting and fun, but I’m also sensitive about the fact that we should not suggest gay actors should play gay characters, and vice-versa. But there’s a perfect reconciliation of this possible issue already present in the series. A gay actor, Zachary Quinto, already plays Spock – who was part of the most significant heterosexual relationship in the first film.
Establishing Sulu as gay in the new movie series in a subtle this-is-just-a-normal-part-of-life way is Star Trek‘s best, and possibly last, chance to eliminate an enduring blot on an otherwise excellent franchise when it comes to social issues. So make it happen, J.J.
