Star Trek Producer: I Regret Not Having Gay Characters
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek producer Brannon Braga says he regrets not featuring openly gay characters in the franchise.
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"It was a shame," Braga told After Elton. "I'm talking about the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and there was a constant back and forth about well how do we portray the spectrum of sexuality. There were people who felt very strongly that we should be showing casually, you know, just two guys together in the background in Ten Forward. At the time, the decision was made not to do that and I think those same people would make a different decision now because I think, you know, that was 1989, well yeah about '89, '90, '91. I have no doubt that those same creative players wouldn't feel so hesitant to have, you know, have been squeamish about a decision like that."
Braga, who produced more than a dozen feature films and 726 episodes in the franchise, said the subject was pretty avoided as a whole. "It was not a forward-thinking decision," he said. "Knowing the players involved, knowing the decision-makers, knowing it was that they felt reluctant about, you know, we're not saying 'yes,' we're not saying 'no,' we're not just not going to touch that right now."
Star Trek star George Takei, who played Sulu on the original series and in numerous films, came out in 2005 and married partner Brad Altman in 2008.
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Braga is currently executive producer of Fox's upcoming series Terra Nova and said he would consider including gay characters on the show.
"We are trying to build a society, you know, build a utopia really. I think we would like to portray an enlightened future," he said. "Even if it was a blighted future that we came from, in terms of the environment and the technology so that is something. I'm glad you bring it up because it's something we should be attending to."