Gays in Space

Back in the early ’90s a veteran Star Trek writer credited with penning one of the original TV series’ most famous episodes (The Trouble With Tribbles) submitted a new script for the Next Gen‘ reboot. It had a gay couple integral to the storyline. Roddenberry loved it; Paramount baulked – apparently Middle America wasn’t ready for gays in space.

Thank god for the interweb! Lightspeed forward to 2009 and David Gerrold’s original story finally beamed down onto screens as a two-part webisode, slotting into the fan-made Star Trek continuation series, Phase II.

Gerrold’s AIDS allegory storyline was expanded and brought up to the minute by major Trekkie and Hollywood movie writer/producer, Carlos Pedraza (Judas Kiss). Now the gay men’s love is clearly displayed, not just hinted at, and one of the interstellar gays is none other than Captain Kirk’s nephew.

I really believe Paramount missed a trick in phazering out any hint of homosexuality in 23rd Century Space and clearly had no idea what a sizeable gay following the series had built up – Star Trek has a history of featuring socially progressive storylines (the first interacial TV kiss, for one) and wouldn’t it have been great if the first gay wedding on screen had taken place aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise (this actually happens in the updated Blood and Fire webisode, with Captain Kirk agreeing to officiate!).

Surely the whole point of sci-fi is to project a hyphothetical, but possible future vision of our world, one that is only a few steps ahead. We tend to assume that advancement in time will bring advancement in equality and I think herein lies the appeal of sci-fi to a lot of gay men – in a time when widespread tolerance and acceptance of gay people is still a long way off, there’s no harm in dreaming ahead.

While the official Star Trek cannon is still light years behind in terms of gay representation, homos have got bored waiting and are doing it for themselves. So, in addition to the gay-themed fan Trek webisodes, there are now sites like GaySciFiNerds.co.uk and DoorQ, which is a gay fantasy/horror/sci-fi fanzine that makes its own short movies.

Other sci-fi TV shows have not been as slow to harness their gay appeal: Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully in the X Files became a huge lesbian icon when the show started, which makes the alleged homophobia in 2008’s X Files: I Want To Believe even more depressing. I haven’t seen that movie, so I can’t comment, but then neither has anybody else!

Sticking with outer space, but crossing the pond, the BBC’s vintage sci-fi show, Dr. Who, has always had a huge gay fan-base. The TV series, which debuted when JFK was still President, was way ahead of its time, which is reflected in the fact the show has stayed essentially the same in the following five decades; just the budgets have got bigger.

Dr. Who was the first metrosexual character in a time when such a word didn’t even exist and kissing another guy could get you locked up. This regenerating alien in human form had an allure to both men and women throughout his space adventures and picked up both in his police box spaceship.

I think the appeal of Dr. Who to gay viewers has always been slightly different to that of Star Trek, particularly in the early days. For gay men who maybe didn’t live in the more cosmopolitan, urban areas, the idea of an enigmatic man of the future turning up on your doorstep, offering you the whole universe and a ticket out of your drab surroundings must have been a nice dream (and an obvious metaphor for coming out).

I can’t recall The Doctor ever having a gay dalliance, but with his continuing regeneration, a homo Doctor can’t be too far away, and now that he’s reached his 11th reincarnation (Matt Smith), the odds are good (if you go by the 1 in 10 statistic). Mind you, until recent series, The Doctor generally abstained from anything romantic or physical with his human companions, fueling his asexual status, and you know what a turn on that sense of unattainability can be.

Dr. Who has certainly been one of the gayest shows behind the scenes – not just in the sci-fi genre, but period. Somehow it made perfect sense when the out, gay TV writer and producer behind Queer As Folk, Russel T Davies, was brought in to revive the show in 2005. A lifelong fan of the show, Davies is credited with recapturing the magic and taking Dr. Who to new heights of popularity and excitement, surpassing what had gone before.

Davies’ love, knowledge and reverence for the show has shone through during his reign as ‘Master of the Who-niverse’ and it’ll be interesting to see where his successor, Steven Moffat (The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn), will take it. Judging by the teaser trailer for the new series, it’s going cooler and teenier.

Conceived as a late-night spin-off to Dr. Who – a kind of hip, sexy, street-wise cousin – Torchwood is easily the gayest show in space and stars John Barrowman as Captain Jack, a space pirate who is human, but indestructible. That means he’s got a lot of time to fill and a big libido, and while The Doctor might abstain from such things, Captain Jack would happily try something on with both male and female assistants – he’s truly uni-sexual: he’ll screw anything in the universe!

After a shaky start, Torchwood came into its own during last year’s excellent 5-part Children Of Earth, a brilliantly intelligent and exciting thriller that went far beyond the show’s shlocky, low-budget roots. The fact that this mini-series matter-of-factly contained a gay relationship at its heart sent its gay approval score through the roof and when Captain Jack’s male lover, Ianto was killed off, gay fans were devastated.

So, as we firmly decamp into the 21st Century and the present catches up with the future and some sci-fi ideas aren’t so ‘fi’ any more, where next for gays in space? I’ve no idea, but I’ll be watching with my telescope.