Petition For Gay Characters
Please read the text of the petition and sign by entering your name and address in the text entry boxes below. The text of the petition and your signature will be sent directly to the list of Paramount executives below, with a copy to us for our records. If you haven't read our Open Letter, which provides a more detailed explanation of reasoning behind this petition, you may want to read it and return to sign the petition. Remember to press button to mail it after you sign. Dean Valentine, President, United Paramount Network Kerry McCouggage, President, Paramount Television Rick Berman, Producer Jeri Taylor, Producer Michael Piller, Producer As a fan of the television series Star Trek, I urge Paramount and the producers of Star Trek Voyager to immediately add at least one positive, on-going gay and/or lesbian character into the cast of Voyager. Given the future that Gene Roddenberry envisioned, in which poverty, racial prejudice, sexism and even war have been eliminated among humankind, homophobia and discrimination based on sexual orientation would also have been abolished. I believe that the producers and Paramount should move immediately to more effectively reflect that vision, a vision based on inclusion and the concept of IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations). I agree with the Voyager Visibility Project that such a character should be a "human" character. Not only would such a character serve to teach valuable and important lessons about tolerance and give hope to gay and lesbian youth who find few if any positive gay/lesbian images on television, it would also add a new and dynamic element to the Voyager storyline. I share the gay and lesbian community's disappointment that Paramount and producers Berman, Piller and Taylor chose to ignore Gene Roddenberry's plans to regularly feature anonymous but identifiably gay crew members on ST:TNG, a plan which he announced just just two months before his death in 1991. It is time that Paramount and the producers lived up to Gene's promise and Rick Berman's own statements to the press. You have a logical, rational opportunity to promote inclusion and understanding --an opportunity, and, indeed, an obligation, that derives from the creative framework established by Roddenberry. It's time to "do the right thing" and restore Star Trek to its innovative and history-making role in television and popular culture. Signed:
Dean Valentine, President, United Paramount Network Kerry McCouggage, President, Paramount Television Rick Berman, Producer Jeri Taylor, Producer Michael Piller, Producer
As a fan of the television series Star Trek, I urge Paramount and the producers of Star Trek Voyager to immediately add at least one positive, on-going gay and/or lesbian character into the cast of Voyager.
Given the future that Gene Roddenberry envisioned, in which poverty, racial prejudice, sexism and even war have been eliminated among humankind, homophobia and discrimination based on sexual orientation would also have been abolished. I believe that the producers and Paramount should move immediately to more effectively reflect that vision, a vision based on inclusion and the concept of IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations).
I agree with the Voyager Visibility Project that such a character should be a "human" character. Not only would such a character serve to teach valuable and important lessons about tolerance and give hope to gay and lesbian youth who find few if any positive gay/lesbian images on television, it would also add a new and dynamic element to the Voyager storyline.
I share the gay and lesbian community's disappointment that Paramount and producers Berman, Piller and Taylor chose to ignore Gene Roddenberry's plans to regularly feature anonymous but identifiably gay crew members on ST:TNG, a plan which he announced just just two months before his death in 1991. It is time that Paramount and the producers lived up to Gene's promise and Rick Berman's own statements to the press. You have a logical, rational opportunity to promote inclusion and understanding --an opportunity, and, indeed, an obligation, that derives from the creative framework established by Roddenberry. It's time to "do the right thing" and restore Star Trek to its innovative and history-making role in television and popular culture.
Signed:
Name: Street Address: City, State, Zip Code:
Want to State Your Point a Little More Strongly? If you'd like to send a more strongly worded version of the petition from a specifically gay and lesbian point of view, beam out to Petition 2. Help Us Circulate the Petition in Your City The Voyager Visibility Project has formated both versions of the petition in Microsoft Word, if you would like to gather signatures from people not on the internet in your city. Simply send us an e-mail message requesting the file and indicating the format you require, then print out the petition on your printer or take the file on a disk to a place like Kinko's. The petitions are available in Word for Macintosh, Word for Windows 1 and 2, Word for DOS, Word Perfect, ASCII or Adobe Acrobat PDF format. Print Version Available We have also printed a supply of petitions which we will be happy to mail to you upon request, along with copies of the Open Letter. Just let us know how many and which version of the petition you would like. (Version 1 has room for 40 signatures per petition and Version 2 has room for 36.) Please send e-mail with your mailing address to Outspeaker at: outspker@ccnet.com. In addition, the Voyager Visibility Project has put together an electronic press kit, which you can also request. Simply resend it via e-mail or print it out on paper and mail to local or regional newspapers and television stations. If you'd like to say more, you can send your own letter to: Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor, Richard Berman, at Paramount Pictures, 5555 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, California, 90038. We'd appreciate a copy of any letters you write via e-mail if possible. Please send to outspker@ccnet.com. To find out what other petition signers who wrote letters to Paramount had to say, go to Letters to Paramount.
If you'd like to send a more strongly worded version of the petition from a specifically gay and lesbian point of view, beam out to Petition 2.
Help Us Circulate the Petition in Your City
The Voyager Visibility Project has formated both versions of the petition in Microsoft Word, if you would like to gather signatures from people not on the internet in your city. Simply send us an e-mail message requesting the file and indicating the format you require, then print out the petition on your printer or take the file on a disk to a place like Kinko's. The petitions are available in Word for Macintosh, Word for Windows 1 and 2, Word for DOS, Word Perfect, ASCII or Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
Print Version Available
We have also printed a supply of petitions which we will be happy to mail to you upon request, along with copies of the Open Letter. Just let us know how many and which version of the petition you would like. (Version 1 has room for 40 signatures per petition and Version 2 has room for 36.) Please send e-mail with your mailing address to Outspeaker at: outspker@ccnet.com. In addition, the Voyager Visibility Project has put together an electronic press kit, which you can also request. Simply resend it via e-mail or print it out on paper and mail to local or regional newspapers and television stations.
If you'd like to say more, you can send your own letter to: Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor, Richard Berman, at Paramount Pictures, 5555 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, California, 90038. We'd appreciate a copy of any letters you write via e-mail if possible.
Please send to outspker@ccnet.com.
To find out what other petition signers who wrote letters to Paramount had to say, go to Letters to Paramount.
Press this button to mail your petition:
Note: You will receive an on-screen receipt when your petition is mailed.
Sometimes, it takes a minute or so for the receipt to appear, if the server or system is busy. Although we have been receiving a number of questions from people who receive error messages after pressing the "submit" button, when we check our mailbox we have always received the signature. However, if you get an error message and you want to make sure we got your signature, please use the e-mail link below to send us a message stating your name and asking if the signature was received. We'd like to know how often people are getting error messages.
Created on May 30, 1995. Last update: October 29, 1997. Please send questions and/or comment about this petition to: