One of the characters in the latest series of Star Trek has been revealed to be gay, and conservatives are outraged.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is the latest installment in the ever-expanding Star Trek universe. It follows a group of young people from different worlds and cultures who are training to become Starfleet officers.
It follows the template established by the show over its six decade history in people learning about each others differences finding common ground. For a longtime the show depicted a future where no LGBTIQA+ people existed, but following longstanding criticism its added more characters with different gender identities and diversity of sexualities.
The latest character to share that they have a non-heterosexual identity is Klingon character Jay-Den Kraag played by newcomer Karim Diané.
In the show’s seventh episode which came out this week the cadets have a break over the holidays and Jay-Den gets ready to head to the Spanish Island of Ibiza for the break to spead time with his partner Kyle. Instead he finds himself whisked away to colleague Darem’s wedding, where’s he’s drafted to be the best man.
Jay-Den has already shown himself to be different to other Klingons, who have been part of the show since the original series in the 1960s. While most Klingons are warriors, Jay-Den is a healer.
The inclusion of a gay character who is a Klingon has upset Sky News host and News Corp columnist James Morrow.
“Star trek has gone down the ‘go woke, go broke’ where no man has ever gone before from Star Trek.” Morrow lamented on Sky News.
“They’ve decided what Trekies need is a gay Klingon.” he said at the Outsiders program.
The actor playing the role, Karim Diané, has commented on the revelation about his character.
“I won’t pretend that I wasn’t scared to take on this role. Part of me still is. Not because of the character himself, but because I knew the reaction that could come with it.” he posted to Instagram.
The actor said he knew some people would not be able to tell the difference between himself and his character, and he would get feedback based in “homophobia, racism and bigotry”.
“But what matters more is this: over the past few weeks since this show premiered, I’ve received countless messages from LGBTQ+ people around the world… people who feel seen, validated, and inspired by Jay-Den. Those messages outweigh every bit of negativity. Every single time.” he said.
Diané first came to prominence on YouTube where he used to post videos of himself singing in the shower. He later appeared on the television show America’s Got Talent.
In recent years Star Trek has been been improving its level of representation of LGBTIQA+ characters.
Star Trek Discovery, the series that lead into the world depicted Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, had no shortage of queer characters. The series featured Dr Hugh Culber played by Wilson Cruz, and his husband Commander Paul Stamets.
Later the series introduced Adira Tal, a non-binary character, while their boyfriend Gray was the first character played by a transgender actor with Ian Alexander taking on the role. Comedian Tig Notaro joined as Jett Reno and it was later revealed her character was also gay. Jett Reno is also featured in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
Nineties series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine featured the show’s first same sex kiss, and character Jadzia Dax was revealed to have previously been in a same-sex relationship.
