this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2026
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[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago

No offense, but at least match the skin tone of the gum forehead.

[–] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 31 points 2 days ago (7 children)

Setting aside a tiny fraction of people who -- as Diane points out in the article -- make their living farming outrage, does anyone actually care about a gay character on Star Trek in the year 2026?

Also, I assume that many of the Klingons we've seen on Star Trek over the years were gay. I think he's just the first Klingon which was identified to the audience as gay.

[–] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I like how he rocks the skirt, I'm glad SFA finally resolved the skirt thing by having absolute gender chaos.

[–] kieron115@startrek.website 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Worf: I do not see why it is necessary to wear these... ridiculous uniforms.

Riker: Protocol.

Worf: They look like dresses.

Riker: That is an incredibly outmoded and sexist attitude! I'm surprised at you. Besides, you look good in a dress.

[–] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

That's true in theory, but TNG still had a gender imbalance in who chooses to wear what under normal circumstances. And of course there's Berman's sexism with Troi's clothes. SFA has complete gender equality with regards to clothes.

(But we can still talk about how Darem and Genesis are very similar characters, but act very differently because of gender socialisation. Caleb and Tarima also have lots of gender socialisation going on)

[–] nightofmichelinstars@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Was there ever an explanation for why Troi was always dressed for jazzercize? She was a regular Starfleet officer, wasn't she?

[–] hallettj@leminal.space 10 points 2 days ago

All we know is that Jellico swooped in and saved the day!

I guess there is sort of an implication in Chain of Command that Troi chose to wear a "non-standard uniform" until Jellico ordered her to change. He says, "I prefer a certain... formality on the bridge. I'd appreciate if you wear a standard uniform." I've just done a TNG rewatch, and I'm pretty sure there is no other in-universe explanation given.

[–] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Doylist: Berman was a fatphobic piece of shit who told her to lose weight before she could wear the uniform.

Watsonian: She had a special exemption to wear those clothes because of her culture and job. We actually see the same with Dr Migleemo. It appears to be tradition that counsellors and therapists wear less formal clothing to set their patients at ease.

[–] astronaut_sloth@mander.xyz 3 points 2 days ago

Doylist: Berman was a fatphobic piece of shit who told her to lose weight before she could wear the uniform.

Don't forget that he was also a misogynist!

[–] grue@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

That wasn't dressing for jazzercise; this was dressing for jazzercise!

[–] kieron115@startrek.website 2 points 2 days ago

Her official role was ship’s councilor, so I’d guess it was to make people feel more at ease and less like they’re talking about their issues to an officer. But mostly - Rick Berman.

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[–] Kirk@startrek.website 19 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

does anyone actually care about a gay character on Star Trek in the year 2026?

According to Karim's recent AMA here, yes, a lot. I'm old but I have to imagine it's a lot harder being a queer kid in 2026 than it was a decade ago!

Also, I assume that many of the Klingons we’ve seen on Star Trek over the years were gay. I think he’s just the first Klingon which was identified to the audience as gay.

Also yes, the headline makes it clear this is Star Trek's first gay Klingon. Not the Klingon species' first gay.

[–] bufalo1973@piefed.social 16 points 2 days ago (2 children)

"A Russian in a USS ship? This cannot be"

"A bald captain? This cannot be"

"A woman captain? This cannot be"

...

The same people that said Tilly didn't belong in ST because weight are the same that say people in STA are too good looking. Chose one side, people. Either "no non perfect people" or "no beautiful people", not both.

[–] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Wait, people think Tilly is fat??

[–] JasSmith@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 days ago (7 children)

Mary Wiseman is fat. [1] [2] Not obese, but overweight. It's okay to acknowledge reality and not make fun of her for it. I don't see why we need to gaslight people about being overweight. We can all see she's overweight. This is such a silly hill to die on.

[–] exaybachae@startrek.website 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

She may have actually qualified as obese at times, as there's an actual medical classification.

I don't think that's likely to be the case in that second photo you shared, she does have a heavy build in general, but there have been times since being on ST when she likely did qualify.

IIRC, obese is anything over a specific rage of BMI or BFP, whichever you use. So if a healthy BMI for you is 18-25 and you are 30 then you are obese.

I'm not a pro, so I'm not sure about the hard details, but the point I'm making is that obese isn't a personal opinion of looks too fat. A person doesn't necessarily even need to look it, but they could still qualify.

My SO looks fine at 30, but not much above that. I think they're sitting at 28 currently.

[–] JasSmith@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

To muddy the waters, being overweight exists somewhere between healthy and obese, and there isn't a clear definition. So there is definitely subjectivity involved. But I think that when someone toes the line of obesity, they can absolutely be classified as overweight.

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[–] grue@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago

Being overweight is in an entirely different category than the other attributes you mentioned because it's a choice, and more importantly because physical fitness is directly relevant to a soldier or sailor's ability to perform their duty. In fact, the show itself addresses this: there are scenes that show Tilly jogging around the ship so that she can get a "physical endurance commendation" and be more likely to get into the Command Training Program.

If she were a civilian character, sure: no judgement, no problem. But having an overweight military officer (especially if they hadn't acknowledged and addressed it the way they did) would be problematic in a legitimate, non-judgemental, suspension-of-disbelief-defying way.

(That said, I don't think Tilly was anywhere near big enough for fan complaints to actually be legitimate. I'm just saying that, in principle, that category of complaint could be legitimate for that type of character, in contrast to complaints about race/sex/hair that are never valid.)

does anyone actually care about a gay character on Star Trek in the year 2026?

Well, yes - plenty of people care about, and celebrate, representation.

[–] tacosanonymous@mander.xyz 17 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I care. It’s pretty cool.

[–] MadMadBunny@lemmy.ca 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Same. And Diané absolutely rocks the character. A+ acting.

[–] Dr_Fetus_Jackson@lemmy.world 15 points 2 days ago

Agreed. An engaging character that, like Star Trek is oft wont to do, has an interesting arc that challenges the status quo and pushes for understanding.

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world -2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I care on how it's done, what the writers do with it. I despise the current writers of Trek and they haven't been able to make a single interesting topic, or do anything interesting with the topics they borrowed.

I hear "gay Klingon" and all I see is another excuse to call everyone who hates NuTrek a bigot.

[–] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

You know, there's a solid case to be made for what you're saying, but you should know you're not doing a good job of making it.

I think there are people who would agree that the choices seem shallow or pandering (not a claim I'm making, just recognizing others might). But if you don't say clearly why the writing disappoints you, you don't have any justification to be indignant when people assume that it's because you're a bigot.

I'm not accusing you of that. I'm just telling you how your comment reads.

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 0 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

How many comparisons to DS9 and TNG need to be made before people who defend NuTrek finally get it?

I've tried the long ass format of showing before. In great detail. It gets the exact same reaction as what I currently write. So what's the bloody point?

[–] Lucky_777@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Depends what platform you're on. Facebook? Omfg. They think the whole series is worth abandoning because of the "woke" agenda. Even though ST has been woke since 1960.

Personally, I don't give a fuck. Kind of like in a game. If a character turns out gay, then so be it. I have no emotion towards it. Overall Academy is a fun series. Just finished the Stars episode with The Doctor and Sam. Fantastic episode. Looking forward to cleaning up the first season

[–] Kirk@startrek.website 5 points 2 days ago

A lot of people didn't give a fuck about Uhura being on the bridge, but that is not a reason to NOT include her character on the bridge. Just because you don't consider yourself bigoted does not mean that gay characters should not be celebrated for breaking new ground.

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[–] FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Hmm, funny how the first gay male Klingon merits a whole article, but Reno and #1 being happily in love in the same show raises no eyebrows

[–] Kirk@startrek.website 2 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Stop with the whattaboutism. First of all, it's literally an interview with the actor about their character.

Secondly, declaring that articles about queer characters can only be allowed to exist if they include some unrelated "both sides" criteria is a clear attempt to silence queer voices.

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Missing the issue entirely.

Problem is the current writers and showrunners declaring "firsts" and patting themselves on the back for things that have already existed in Star Trek.

[–] usernamefactory@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You’re the one who’s missing the point, in a way that betrays your ignorance about the subject. There were no outwardly gay Klingons who preceded Jay-Den. Calling him the first is only imprecise because he’s tied for that title with another character introduced in the same episode.

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 1 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

At that point you're splitting hairs. Like the big poster headline that said Michael Burnham was "the first ever black woman as the lead character", witch both shits all over Nichelle Nichole's contribution and is also true in the idea that Star Trek never had "THE main character", as in singular.

NuTrek is wholly irredeemable.

[–] usernamefactory@lemmy.ca -1 points 21 hours ago

Your opinion on that could only hold any weight if you’d been watching it, which you obviously haven’t, since you just tried to argue that the creators of Jay-Den tried to steal clout from the creators of Lura Thok.

[–] Kirk@startrek.website 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

man it's just crazy all the boxes that have to be checked in order to celebrate lgbt representation! its like the bar is set impossibly high! ugh! so crazy.

Obviously you are not a bigot and think representation is a good thing too! thats why it sucks that everything has to be just so perfectly aligned in order to celebrate it! ugh!

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You genuinely think NuTrek is celebrating LGBTQ+ representation? XD

You poor innocent soul. You must think the rainbow logos from major corporations in June are sincere too!

NuTrek is nothing more than low effort slop that's using the queerness as a shield from criticism. You're defending shallow tokenism as "high bar".

[–] Kirk@startrek.website 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

weird how many hoops you are willing to jump through to discourage anyone talking about the gays in a positive way 🤔

protip next time you want to LARP as a non bigot, don't call it "nutrek" that's a dead giveaway

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 0 points 22 hours ago

It only deserves to be called "NuTrek". It's a shame you lack the awareness or the standards to see that.

[–] FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Alright well thank you for the quick and harsh reply. I maintain that it seems a bit disingenuous and somewhat poor journalism to interview someone about a very specific aspect of a character, like first in history, and completely fail to mention that someone from the exact same species has the exact same character aspect in the exact same show

If by saying they should SAY MORE you think I’m making an attempt to silence, then Kirk I have no fuckin clue what you think attempting to amplify looks like.

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