The following is from the November 6-12 1995 GLAAD Media alert.
The November 1 broadcast of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" ("DS9") featured one of the most passionate same-sex kissing scenes ever to grace prime-time television. The "DS9" episode, titled "Rejoined," centered on the alien "symbiot" (or "Trill") known as Dax.
Dax once inhabited a male body but now lives in a female "host," Jadzia (played by series regular Terry Farrell). In "Rejoined," Jadzia is reunited with Lenara -- a woman that Dax had been married to a century ago, when he was hosted by a male humanoid. While such obscure "Trill" history might escape new viewers, a kissing scene involving Jadzia and Lenara was anything but vague. The two women lock lips (and tickle tongues) in a kiss that makes all previous "lesbian kissing scenes" on television look like mere pecks on the cheek.
"Rejoined" not only demonstrated a rather casual acceptance of same-gender and bisexual relationships, but also explored the broader issue of discrimination and taboos associated with love (it is revealed that "Trill" culture has a taboo against association with "past-life" lovers). Although the episode was not specifically "about lesbians," the story line clearly struck a responsive chord. As one lesbian viewer -- and a self-professed "Trek" fan -- put it: "The kiss was great, real, and lesbian. What a treat! Also, neither woman died -- this is a big deal, considering most shows I've seen."
Other fans, however, offered more-cautious praise. Tim Perkins, who works with a group of lesbian and gay Trek fans known as the "U.S.S. Harvey Milk," agrees that "the kiss between Jadzia and Lenara was electric and I'm happy the camera did not flinch." But, Perkins adds, "if this is a step forward, it is a small step. After thirty years of 'Star Trek' and promises of regular gay and lesbian characters, it is a very small step."
Perkins claims that "Star Trek" producers continue to offer allegories and metaphors about homosexuality, instead of simply introducing a full-fledged homosexual character. "Wouldn't it be a much more effective, direct and courageous statement to show a gay or lesbian human being as a resident character on 'DS9'," Perkins asks, "as an ongoing character who has a distinctive personality and depth, who doesn't die in one episode, but grows and changes and interacts with other members of the crew, who has a chance to relate to a lover the way heterosexual characters do?" He adds: "Isn't the fact that there are no human characters who are gay or lesbian in any iteration of 'Star Trek' a denial of our existence?"
Shortly before he died, "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry promised to introduce a continuing lesbian or gay character into his imaginative universe. To date, producers have failed to fully honor Roddenberry's death-bed wish.