[There is an inherent paradox in the creation of a TV series set
in a future that is intended to be better than the world of today,
that the production and creative direction of said show is still
ruled by the cultural restrictions of its own time.]
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PORTSIDE CULTURE

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY'S TRANS REPRESENTATION IS BOTH GROUNDBREAKING
AND HEARTBREAKING  
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Riley Silverman
November 5, 2020
SyFy
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_ There is an inherent paradox in the creation of a TV series set in
a future that is intended to be better than the world of today, that
the production and creative direction of said show is still ruled by
the cultural restrictions of its own time. _

, Credit: CBS

 

_WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE CURRENT SEASON
OF _STAR TREK: DISCOVERY.

My own personal _Star Trek_ journey began onboard the NCC-1707-D, or
as it is better known, the Enterprise-D, the flagship of Starfleet in
the era of _The Next Generation_, and home to Captain Picard and his
crew. The United Federation of Planets, as presented to me, was a
promise of a hopeful ideal for the future. One that celebrated the
concept of Infinite Diversity in Inifinite Combinations
[[link removed].].
And yet, growing up a closeted queer kid, I always sort of wished
there was someone like me onboard any of the ships and space stations
we encountered along the way. 

There is an inherent paradox in the creation of a TV series set in
a future that is intended to be better than the world of today, that
paradox being that the production and creative direction of said show
is still ruled by the cultural restrictions of the time in which it
was produced. When George Takei 
[[link removed]]asked Gene
Roddenberry why there were no gay characters on _Star Trek_ in the
1960s, Roddenberry answered honestly, “'If I dealt with that issue I
wouldn't be able to deal with any issue because I would be canceled."

Things didn’t get better by the time_ The Next Generation_ rolled
around. Writer David Gerrold
[[link removed]] left
the series when an episode he wrote as an AIDS allegory was shelved,
largely because he included a brief scene in which two background
characters were vaguely implied to be in a homosexual
relationship. _Deep Space Nine_ actor Andrew J. Robinson has
said in interviews
[[link removed]] that
he had originally chosen to portray Elin Garak as omnisexual, but the
show never gave him space to explore it. And while developing the gay
characters of Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Culber (Wilson Cruz)
for _Discovery_, Bryan Fuller 
[[link removed]]cited
the letter-writing pushback when the (now canonically bisexual
[[link removed]]) Seven
of Nine (Jeri Ryan) was first being introduced to _Voyager_. 

[Jadzia Dax]

Credit: Paramount

Queer fans, especially trans fans of _Star Trek _and other sci-fi
stories, have often had to seek refuge within allegory, coded
characters, and outright headcanon wishes. And there perhaps is no
more perfect example of this than _DS9_'s Jadzia Dax
[[link removed]] (Terry
Farrell) and the Trill symbionts. For years, Jadzia has been held up
as an example of how simple it can be for people to switch to calling
someone by a new name, or to recognize that someone they knew as
another gender previously has had an adjustment. But while these
moments have been extremely important to members of the trans
community, they are replications of _experiences_, not
representations of a group. 

There is a real dark side to this. Some voices sought to dismiss or
invalidate the importance of the trans casting on _Discovery_ by
citing the existence of Jadzia. In the comments section of the GLAAD
interview
[[link removed]] with
Adira actor Blu del Barrio, a reply stated “[_Deep Space Nine_] had
a trans main character in the character Dax [whose] gender [depends]
on their host. In the show she identifies as female (Jadzia) although
multiple characters knew them when they were male.” 

This commenter was far from the only voice making this point, but the
fact that they were stating it in response to an interview with a
trans actor on the website of a queer media advocacy group is
significant. It shows how far the gap really is between the shared,
relatable experiences in a queer-coded character, and the lived
experiences of actual people. Not to mention that it completely
dismisses the fact that Trill hosts are themselves characters with
their own agency and presence of mind, hence why Ezri Dax (Nicole
deBoer) is not simply the same character in a new body, but a new
character whose own experiences are simply enhanced by Jadzia's
memories. 

So let me just state this clearly as a trans woman: The experience of
being a person surgically implanted with a sentient alien worm that
carries the memories of the other people it was once implanted in is
not, _in fact, _what it is like to be transgender. It
does _not _represent the experience of going through dysphoria and
as much as I love Jadzia Dax (_and I do!_) and as much as I relate to
her as a character, I do not consider her such an adequate
representation of someone like me that I hadn’t maintained a real
sense of disconnect between myself and the supposed inclusive future
that _Star Trek _promises. 

This is why, once I finally did find out that _Star Trek_ was
expanding its inclusivity with some long, long overdue trans
characters, I was thrilled. It took the excitement I already had
for _Discovery_ Season 3 and punched it into warp nine. I had some
mixed emotions when I learned that both characters would be hosts of a
Trill symbiont, but upon speaking to
[[link removed]] del
Barrio about their role, and their emphasis on the fact that both
characters were trans prior to the implantation of the Tal symbiont,
and remain trans regardless of Tal’s presence, I welcomed it as a
solid subversion of my previous concerns. Taking hosts and giving them
agency over their own gender identity feels like giving the Trill over
to the trans community once and for all. 

And yet, when I finally arrived at episode Season 3, Episode
4, “Forget Me Not,” where we get the first deep dive into Adira
as a character and an introduction to Gray (Ian Alexander) for the
very first time, I was gutted. The episode got me so upset that I had
to stop it midway and compose myself before finishing it. Because as
those who have seen the episode already know, when we meet Gray HE IS
DEAD. Gray’s story in this episode is a traumatic memory from
Adira’s past. Their lost love who died and passed the Tal symbiont
over to them. If you like burying your queers, well
you’ll _love_ burying them inside another queer!

Now, I am on record
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saying that I do not believe that immortal queer characters is the
solution to burying them. In order to truly gain a justifiable level
of diversity in representation we need enough various groups
represented in narratives so that one character's experiences, their
loss, and their pain, do not have to act as a stand-in for their
entire community. That said, it's hard to get to know someone if you
just kill them off immediately as if they're disposable. I'm angry
because even while _Star Trek_ has taken great strides to rectify
the mistakes of the past, it is frustrating that they chose introduce
trans characters into the narrative through the blood-soaked lens of
trauma. 

The episode ends in a slightly more ambiguous — and from some
perspectives, even sweet — place. Gray seems to live on inside
Adira, speaking directly to them. The dialogue implies that his
presence is not just as some sort of memory ghost but perhaps a
strange anomaly in the host/symbiont relationship due to Adira being a
human host. 

Because of this, I wanted to give the show the benefit of the doubt
— that maybe they were trying something and simply stumbled on its
execution. When I spoke with del Barrio about the episode, I felt
obligated to address the death of Gray head-on, the learn about their
own feelings about it when they were given the script and saw what was
intended. 

“It was hard to hear that Gray is technically dead,” del Barrio
told me, “it was definitely a difficult thing at first.” But they
went on to add, “It's something that we've now talked about a lot.
And past mistakes will not be made again. Gray and Adira’s storyline
only moves forward in a positive way. Gray’s storyline individually
only moves forward in a positive way. It’s not going to be kept in
this sad, sad storyline for both of them. From the beginning, it’s
just trauma but it does not last. Which I’m glad about, because I
wouldn’t want that to be their whole thing.” 

"I WOULD HATE FOR THIS TO BE A TROPE, JUST ANOTHER SAD TRANS STORY
FILLED WITH TRAUMA."

- BLU DEL BARRIO 

We discussed how excited that trans _Trek_ fans were for the
characters and how upsetting and potentially triggering this early
part of the storyline ultimately could end up being, and del Barrio
emphasized again how much they and Alexander shared those concerns.
“It will be OK, he will be OK. I don’t know how to say anything
more without spoiling, but as much as I _can_ take away worry,
I _want _to take away worry. Because Ian and I as actors have both
been very vocal about not wanting this to be another sad dramatic
story for them. It can’t be that. I would hate for this to be a
trope, just another sad trans story filled with trauma. I feel good
now, so I hope that can give some reassurance.”

After speaking with del Barrio, I also confirmed with representatives
from CBS that both actors will be returning to _Discovery_ for
Season 4, so whatever lays ahead for the future of Adira and Gray,
viewers (myself included) can rest assured that they do have a future
to look forward to. They may, in fact, live long and prosper. 

And while it is true that _Star Trek_ will never have another chance
to introduce trans characters for the first time, there is something
to be said that a storyline beginning in a tropey depiction of death
and pain is being reworked and redeveloped out of an effort to do
better. It’s inspiring, too, that this course correction occurred
because two brave young actors appearing in their first season of a
franchise spanning decades had the fortitude to speak up about it, and
the writers of the show were willing to listen. It also is a
significant argument for the inclusion of voices that can speak to the
reality of the situation. Had Adira and Gray been cast from cisgender
actors, it's possible these concerns may never have been voiced and
the trope would have held sway. 

Given the show’s constant struggles with the standards of the time,
it says a lot about _today’s _standards that these mistakes are
being fixed right here, right now, and not being pushed down the road
for the next generation to deal with. 

[STAR_TREK_DISCOVERY_BLU_DEL_BARRIO]
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[Star Trek: Discovery]
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Star Trek: Discovery_ is now airing on CBS All-Access in the United
States and on other streaming outlets worldwide._

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