10 Star Trek Fan Concepts That Became Real
7. Star Trek: New Voyages - Blood And Fire
This entry has something of a storied history in Star Trek. It was initially written by David Gerrold, writer of the classic episode The Trouble With Tribbles. The episode features a same-sex couple and a virus that is a direct analogy to the AIDS epidemic. The story was tossed by Leonard Maizlish, Gene Roddenberry's lawyer, resulting in a bitter departure from the franchise for Gerrold.
Star Trek: New Voyages then picked up the script and produced it as seen in the link above. The episode was even able to go slightly further in depicting a same-sex couple than TNG would have been allowed to do in the eighties, primarily due to network restrictions. New Voyages answered to no network and was able to produce the episode uncut.
Both the viral element of the story and the same-sex couple would feature heavily in later Trek. Enterprise visited the idea of the stigma that Vulcans placed on those who took part in mind-melds, forced or consensual. Star Trek: Discovery features Hugh Culber and Paul Stamets, one of the most positive depictions of a same-sex couple in modern SciFi.