Star Trek: Deep Space Nince

The only true bisexual or gay characters we ever saw on Deep Space 9 were the alternate Kira and Ezri in the parallel universe - the former being a villain, for those who don't know. Such negative depictions of gays and lesbians have a long tradition in Hollywood. Showing same-sex desires in movies or on TV has always been acceptable, as long as they were indicative of a negative character's moral corruption. DS9's lesbian and bisexual mirror universe characters do not rise to the level of offensiveness of, say, the character of Baron Harkonen in David Lynch's 1984 movie Dune, but their existence in the evil mirror universe, and the simultaneous absence of positive gay characters in our universe makes an unmistakable statement that same-sex attraction has no place in a positive vision of the future. This resounding and repeated slap in the face of the gay community is my primary reason for calling DS9 homophobic. But there are others.

In its 7th and final season, DS9 had a great opportunity to undo some of the damage it had done in past years by making Dax's new host a male who still has feelings for Worf. Jadzia's death presented a natural opportunity for meaningful story line that could have finally addressed issues of gender identity and sexual orientation. But the writers and producers chose the safe path and made the new Dax female again. This way, instead of producing intelligent stories for a change, they could once again fill half the season with childish storylines of adolescent crushes and petty jealousy.

Then there was the akward relationship between Dr. Bashir and O'Brian, who were afraid of expressing feelings for each other, behaving like homophobic 20th century schoolboys instead of 24th century adults. Then there is the fact that towards the end of the show, all the characters were being paired up in heterosexual relationships, and even the shape shifters turned out to be male/female and heterosexual. And there was the more general problem that the show had simply become reactionary, constantly shoving "family values" and "tradition" down our throats, even if the values and traditions in question were downright archaic.

As a case in point, consider how remarkably different DS9's stance towards the Klingons was from that of The Next Generation. By the standards and values of the Federation in the 24th century, the Klingons are a primitive, revolting culture, full of barbaric customs and repulsive rituals. The Next Generation always espoused a philosphy of 'we may not like it, but we have to respect it'. DS9, on the other hand, whole-heartedly endorsed the Klingon culture. The episode You Are Cordially Invited in which Jadzia Dax and Worf get married exemplifies the new direction. The customs of the male's culture take complete precedence over those of the female. Even though the female shares enlightened Federation values, she is expected to submit to and play by the rules of an atavistic Klingon culture. When she refuses, and seeks help from Captain Sisko he harshly rebukes her, and tells her in no uncertain terms to get over herself and embrace the savage culture she is obviously marrying alongside with Worf.

The producers, confronted with falling ratings, were obviously pandering to the enormous popularity of the Klingons, but in doing so, they subverted the value system that Star Trek represents. The primitive society of the Klingons, with its archaic male-based power structure and its glorification of war and violence, is really just an exaggerated sketch of contemporary American society, and we are supposed to get past that, at least according to the original beliefs of Gene Roddenberry. By endorsing and even glorifying it, Deep Space Nine did far more than just "push the envelope" of Gene Roddenberry's vision. It left it firmly behind. It seems unlikely that this new direction was an accident, given that DS9 represents a departure from established Star Trek philosphy in other arenas as well, such as in its stance towards religion. DS9's unequivocal approval of the Bajoran culture and religion, and specficially Sisko's siding with that religion against the Federation is contrary to Star Trek's critical view of religion, and, just like the endorsement of the Klingon culture, sends a message that religious and cultural traditions take precedence over the values of enlightenment. In doing so, it allies itself with those forces in Earth's present who dismiss the universality of human rights as an affront to tradition. More basically, it rejects the idea of the essential autonomy of the individual.

For gays and lesbians, the question of individual rights vs. social conformity is anything but theoretical. As I write this, there are still countries on Earth where gay people are being held in prisons, tortured or executed for being who they are. In most others, gay people are subject to frequent harassment, discrimination and second-class status under the law. Defenders of the status quo argue that individual rights must abide by religious and cultural traditions. The writers and producers of DS9 would seem to agree.

Nothing could illustrate my point better than a glowing review of DS9 from a right-wing source, and that is exactly what follows. Mark Wegierski, a writer for the extreme-right Christian publication World Magazine (which has ties to Bob Jones "University", the South Carolina school where interracial dating is considered immoral), gave DS9 thumbs up in a May 29, 1999 article. What follows are some of the more revealing passages of that article.

The creator of the series, Gene Roddenberry, had used The Next Generation as his increasingly liberal soapbox. DS9, though, was the first post-Roddenberry Trek, and the new master of that universe, Rick Berman, saw things in a more complicated way. (..)

The withdrawal of the Cardassians left Bajor divided and in flux, undecided about joining the Federation. Bajor has a very traditional culture, with a long-established religion, leading to "culture wars" with the modern and postmodern perspectives of the high-tech Federation.

In one episode, the Bajoran creationists were at odds with the evolutionist educational system brought by the earthlings (not that the Bajorans-with their priestesses, visions, and mystical rites-could be seen as extraterrestrial Christians). Nevertheless, throughout the series the traditional ethos of Bajor has been taken seriously, with important questions raised about whether the liberal "Federation values" might undermine Bajoran culture as much as the violent Cardassian occupation.

The space station's commander, Captain Benjamin Sisko, has been something of a social conservative. The highly positive portrayal of the relationship between him and his son Jake (who grew from childhood to adolescence as the series progressed) is one of the bedrocks of DS9. (..)

The other, still-running Star Trek spin-off, Star Trek Voyager-though a Berman production with some of his complexity-is more liberal in tone. Though DS9 will continue indefinitely in syndication reruns on cable, the end of its run means that in the pop culture, space will be a little less deep.

"Tell me why there are no gay characters in Star Trek," says Ron Moore. "This is one of those uncomfortable questions I hate getting when I was working on the show, because there is no good answer for it. There is no answer for it other than people in charge don’t want gay characters in Star Trek, period. "

" [..] That’s one of the great things about Paramount. Paramount left us alone. They always left us alone. They let Next Gen do whatever it wanted. God knows it let Deep Space Nine do whatever we wanted. It lets Voyager do whatever it wants. The studio is not the problem here. The studio is going to let you go wherever you want to go, as long as they believe that this is quality, as long as they believe it’s good work. You’ve just got to come up with something good."

So if Paramount leaves Star Trek alone to do whatever it wants to do, and Rick Berman is in charge of Star Trek, then the inescapable conclusion must be that the complete absence of gay characters on Star Trek is Mr. Berman's fault, and his alone.