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Feb 05 | Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Wil Wheaton and Denise Crosby will be part of Star Trek® TNG EXPOsed – a full-cast reunion of Star Trek: The Next Generation® to be held at the Calgary Expo April 27-29, 2012. The special reunion event will be held at Calgary Stampede Corral on the evening of Saturday, April 28, 2012. This auspicious occasion marks the 25th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation® and will be the first time in over twenty years that the cast has participated in an event such as this. Included in the evening’s program is a 90 minute panel discussion, a Q&A session, and a video presentation in honour of the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation®. A commemorative guide will produced solely for this event along with exclusive merchandise. This is a separate ticketed event with tickets going on sale through Ticketmaster on February 18, 2012 at 10 AM MST. Although the cast will be participating in various panels throughout the course of the weekend, Star Trek® TNG EXPOsed will be the only opportunity to see all nine of the cast members in one incredible panel. Tickets will be available at www.ticketmaster.com and range from $40-$125 CDN.
Jan 30 | A large, heavy pewter sculpture that Paramount
commissioned, commemorating the series finale of DS9 in 1999 is available on eBay.
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By TRexx / 07:18, 20 April 2006 / General Star Trek
In an article for AfterElton, journalist Michael Ricci assesses the ways in which Star Trek has dealt with homosexuality.
"In the fifth season [of Star Trek: The Next Generation] viewers will see more of shipboard life [including] gay crew members in day-to-day circumstances," Gene Roddenberry is quoted as telling The Advocate in 1991. Roddenberry died later that year, and there hasn't been an identifiably gay character in the movie or television franchise.
Ricci cites a 2002 interview with USA Today in which executive producer Rick Berman addresses the subject matter: "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." However, Star Trek has indeed shown opposite sexes kissing and embracing.
AfterElton reports Andy Mangels -- an openly gay Trek novelist -- as saying he believes fault lies with Berman. "I have never met Rick Berman," says Mangels, "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," opined Mangels, "and in interviews, was mealy-mouthed and waffling about the need for GLBT 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."
Star Trek printed media has had success with including gay characters. Section 31 novel Star Trek: Rogue, co-written by Mangels, centers around Lieutenant Hawk and his partner, a Trill named Ranul Keru.
Mangels spoke of concern during the licensing of his novel: "Paramount licensing was very quiet about the book's contents, and made sure that Rick Berman and Brannon Braga (the Trek TV producers) did not see it before it went to press. There was some concern that the gay elements would be forcefully removed if Berman and Braga saw it. Once it was at the printer, it was given to their office. I never heard if there was fallout or not, but the book got publicity all around the world."
AfterElton reportedly contacted Berman's representatives, but got no official response for their story.
See the complete Ricci article at AfterElton.com.
Andy Mangels novel Star Trek Section 31: Rogue can be ordered at Amazon in the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and Deutschland.
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The way to approach this issue is through subtlety, not gratuitous man-on-man action. Overt and over-the-top homosexuality need not be included, and in fact may be detrimental to opening the eyes of the viewers.
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"I saw the poor people and the suffering, all around me. I didn't have time to hate Castro."
-A Cuban friend of mine on the current state of her country
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"In the fifth season [of Star Trek: The Next Generation] viewers will see more of shipboard life [including] gay crew members in day-to-day circumstances," Gene Roddenberry is quoted as telling The Advocate in 1991. Roddenberry died later that year, and there hasn't been an identifiably gay character in the movie or television franchise.
Does anyone think that this might have been more Roddenberry pandering to the Advocate more than anything he really intended to do? Didn't David Gerrold leave because of Roddenberry sandbagging a gay or AIDS allegorical story?
I don't think that putting a gay character in the next show or movie is all that hard of a thing-- but I don't see the need to do any type of story about homosexuality. Think about Janeway's boyfriend at home, what if that had been a woman? You have Janeway (or any character on the ship) make it clear that she is committed to someone on Earth. In discussing that person it is made clear it is a homosexual partner. What is important to do is that the person is spoken of in the same way that a heterosexual partner would be. There shouldn't be any questions about the nature of the relationship or homosexuality, because you don't do that with heterosexuals. By dealing with it as just an aside in the same way as you would a heterosexual partner, that establishes the tolerance.
I do think that they missed the chance of making Malcolm, Meriweather, or Hoshi gay by doing that. Even with the folks who strongly oppose a gay character, I cannot believe there would be that many viewers lost if Meriweather spoke in passing about having a parter named Frank living in Des Moines-- he says it at some point, and then it just is not addressed again until there is some releveant story point to do so. Or instead of Trip losing his sister, he could have lost his academy lover Juan who lived in Palm Beach and got cooked by the Xindi.
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