Star Trek: 10 Things That Made You Cringe

Until recently, trans people were completely absent from Star Trek. Gender non-conformity was rare for the Humans we saw, and often shown in alien societies to illustrate how 'different' they were from Humans. Other times, trans issues were treated as a joke, like in Profit And Lace.

In this Deep Space Nine episode, the Ferengi Grand Nagus, Zek, was ousted by the Ferengi Commerce Authority for signing an amendment that gave female Ferengi the right to wear clothing. Quark's mother, Ishka, was due to meet with the Chairman of Slug-o-Cola, Nilva, in hopes of convincing him to use his influence to give back Zek's power.

The episode was set up to be a very powerful story of feminism prevailing over a patriarchal society, but after Ishka collapsed from a heart attack, everything started going downhill.

With no female Ferengi to meet Nilva, Zek chose to make Quark into one. Doctor Bashir conducted a full sex reassignment surgery on Quark as if it were a routine and simple procedure, then he was easily changed back by the end of the episode.

The reveal that transitioning in Star Trek is so casual was exciting for trans fans of course, but the fact that everything was played off as a joke and focused on a cis man (Quark) pretending to be a woman, rather than an actual trans person, made these scenes unbearable. It's also worth mentioning that the episode was filled with sexist stereotypes about women that totally ruined what could've been a good episode about Ferengi feminism.