10 Times Star Trek Gave Fans EXACTLY What They Wanted

From the outset of the Original Series, Gene Roddenberry had used Star Trek to represent marginalised groups in human society. On the bridge of the Enterprise, all the way back in 1966, a Black Woman, along with a Japanese man held pride of place, followed the next year by a Russian ensign while the Cold War was still very much a reality.

However, one group were very obviously missing for a very long time in Star Trek continuity. The LGBTQ+ representation in Star Trek was poor. The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine both attempted in their own ways to rectify this. A script entitled 'Blood and Fire' was commissioned for the Next Generation, but was then buried. Deep Space Nine was more successful, showing the first same sex kiss in the history of the franchise.

But fans quite deservedly wanted more. Star Trek Beyond showed that the Kelvin universe Sulu was in a same sex relationship, although this drew criticism from George Takei, who thought this was simply pandering.

Brian Fuller, an openly LGBTQ+ personas the initial show runner of Discovery as was key to the creation of Dr. Culber and Lt. Stamets, the first recurring gay couple in Star Trek. They are displayed as being a loving couple. And that's it. There's no overt messaging going on rather than the simple message on show - they are in love and they are together.

This simple representation, unthinkable for so many years in the franchise's history, is shown to be as normal as any other relationship and finally, the fans' cries for representation were honoured.