The latest incarnation of the Star Trek franchise features the first two canonical gay characters in Trek history (about damn time too!), Paul and Hugh, played by Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz. Rapp may get a bit more screen time as the ship’s engineer. But Cruz, as the ship’s doctor, gives the series an extra dose of sincerity.
Oh, and the two are a happy couple!
On that point, it really makes you wonder…
Did the two meet on board the ship, and were they the only two gay people around?
Did they meet before enlisting and make a point of being assigned to the same starship?
Are there other gay members of Starfleet on board who haven’t been featured yet?
So many burning questions.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
And while you wait for answers (get comfortable), enjoy a tender moment from this week’s episode.
It’s the first gay kiss in Star Trek history, y’all!
This was the cutest thing! And the first gay kiss in @startrekcbs am I right? @wcruz73 @albinokid ?? pic.twitter.com/QHccNuDL5r
— Lewis Peters (@lew_and_i) November 14, 2017
Lazycrockett
No its not. The first gay kiss on Star Trek was on Deep Space 9.
Knight
Really? At the risk of outting myself (yet again in life) DS9 was my favorite iteration. But I can’t remember any “gay kiss”. There was the time Quark was kissed by what he assumed was a male ferengi that turned out to be female. Then another time Quark turned himself into a female to seduce the Negus (oddly, the Amharic word for “King” in Ethiopia as well) and the two kissed. But neither of these would be “gay kisses”. So…what did I miss??? Eager to hear what your observation is.
warmgulfwind
Lazycrockett is right, there was a gay kiss on Deep Space Nine between Dax and Lenara – two female characters.
warmgulfwind
Knight: google “Deep Space Nine Gay Kiss” it’s the very first thing that comes up. You can watch the kissing scene on YouTube.
Both actresses are women, although the story refers to a time betore the show when Dax was physically male and married to Lenara. Meeting up again years later, Dax now has a new body and it’s taboo to relive old relationships, not because they are both women but because it’s considered a past life. They rekindle their romance and kiss on the episode.
It was a kiss between two female characters who were attracted and in love with eachother – I know it was a gay kiss because some local TV channels refused to air it.
It’s also a retelling of an original episode of Star Trek TNG where Dr. Crusher falls in love with a male patient who reincarnates (for lack of a better word) as a woman – at the end her now female patient kisses Beverly’s palm lovingly and leaves the ship.
The first Star Trek gay kiss was on Deep Space Nine.
Knight
Warmg ahhhhh…well, no disrespect, but girl-on-girl doesn’t count. Never has. First, Dax was not “gay” in the storyline. I remember that episode, and Dax was a MAN at the time when the two were going out. The fact Dax was in a woman’s body now was like “meh”. Anyway, I see the distinction between two openly gay (and male) characters as opposed to the plot you described. But thanks for the clarification.
Marcus.C.Tomazetti
IT IS the first gay kiss sir. Why? The most important thing for me is not te gay itself but the scene that they declare each other their love when both say “I love you”.
The DS9 kiss is far from being considered a gay kiss. A gay kiss has in its essence the quality of being gay characters, not the case of the “first”. They were both STRAIGHT characters, what’s the fun and fuzz about that? Let’s also remind that Paul and Hugh are BOTH very important in the show, not the case of DS9 and we can expect much more to come.
Physically, yes, DS9 was the first one.
Truly, this is the first gay kiss.
What’s the one that really really counts in our community? As a gay men, I really think this is the first one, but I guess it’s a matter of interpretation really.
Hugs Hugs from Brazil.
Bob LaBlah
So what they can’t do in a regular script to keep an audience watching they make up for in gay sex scenes? The last I heard a kiss is a preamble to sex, unless the internet has change that time old custom too. And by the way, Wilson doesn’t look very comfortable in that scene/thumbnail. It looks like he was threatened moments before it was shot with the ultimatum of “do it or your fired.” I haven’t watched it but I heard the show really sucks and now I am convinced without having watched it that its true.
blawrence
Wow, what a stupid statement Bob! Since when is a kiss EXPECTED to lead to sex?! Ever hear of expressing affection?? Based on your entire post you’re clearly a sad sad man who has to demean everything and everyone around him. Pathetic. Go crawl back under your rock in your parents basement until you grow up a little more.
Thomas
Bob…you are an idiot…
Of course you have not watched it but you have an opinion…TYPICAL INTERNET WARRIOR…
Your mom wants you to mow the lawn and fold your clothes..so GET TO IT…
PS: Your mom also wants you to stop jerking off onto her good towels
Jack Meoff
Since when is a kiss a ‘preamble’ to sex? Have you never kissed anyone without it leading to sex?
Bob LaBlah
I think you should all go back and reread your posts. I stand by my assessment.
Marcus.C.Tomazetti
Bob LaBlah, Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Lobotomised.
terminalose
The series touched on the subject of male rape victims, but yes, focus on an innocent kiss that was not at all an important part of the episode
Prax07
The series is surprising good, and the kiss was because the blond guy was about to possibly die or get brain damage because he has implants that allow him to be hooked into a drive that makes the ship blink jump, which is altering/damaging a part of his brain every time he does it. He had to perform something like 175 jumps in four minutes just after that kiss. I also think they’re married on the show too, not just bf’s.
Josh447
Sweet!
Josh447
Don’t care about the context, though I’m sure it was realistic, a full length gay kiss on Star Trek is epic for equality itself. A great thing it is.
Ummmm Yeah
Lacking context I can only assume he’s offended The Don and has now received the kiss of death.
Thomas
I LOVE THE SERIES…they are doing it right!!!
irbaboon
but why do the klingons on that show look so strange?
Josh447
They are a mass of plastic that’s for sure. Not enamored with the subtitles and them not speaking English. Otherwise it’s all pretty good.
bradley8
The two are a happy couple!!!
GoMovies
Paco
It really is a great show and the relationship is being presented naturally.
Prax07
@bob Your assessment is no different than a moron looking at the title of Moby Dick and thinking it’s about a large dick. So maybe STFU.
Bob LaBlah
The truth hurts, huh?
Knight
Didn’t the new “Sulu” (aka John Cho) kiss his male whatever on the last feature film when he got back to port? I know they both had some kid they needed to exploit in there too. Maybe I just imagined the kiss?
warmgulfwind
I think there was a hug and a kiss on the cheek, not a kiss on the mouth.
DCguy
No, they intentionally cut the kiss it just showed them walking off together.
warmgulfwind
Wrong again Queerty, as Lazycrockett correctly pointed out there was a gay kiss between two women (Dax and Lenara) on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. (Google it, the kiss is on YouTube).
The episode, called Rejoined, shows two female actresses whose chatacters are in love kiss onscreen. You could split hairs and say Dax was once male, but when the characters meet on the show they are both women and in love and attracted to eachother.
That episode first aired on Oct 30th, 1995.
So no, Star Trek Discovery does not have the first gay kiss in Star Trek canon.
It is the first romantic kiss between two gay men.
Just 22 years late, almost to the day, to be the first gay kiss ever on Star Trek.
Thomas
HERE IS THE SCENE FROM DEEP SPACE 9 with the first gay Star Trek Kiss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvfJRLTNmUI
Josh447
Good researching Thomas.
Knight
Well, call me a “raving misogynist and self-loathing homosexual” or whatever everyone on here is saying about me these days, but to me a “gay kiss” = two men playing gay characters. Lesbian or “bi” characters have always had it easier on TV, especially in the kissing department. They can sneak that stuff in without raising an eye-brow. Incidentally, there were more than a few gay actors on that show (a couple of them even married each other for appearances).
Josh447
If it were two males kissing onscreen back then, half the country would have lost their lunch and every clergy nationwide would have been tuned in luridly smiling. Unfortunately for men, females kissing /sexing gets a pass by a majority of males, and then their’s Leviticus that excludes females, hence many have never heard of this kiss. It obviously was no big deal to the majority, even back then. Not to say there isn’t discrimination against gay women, but the discrimination aimed against gay men is much more far reaching.
Josh447
“Unfortunately for” GAY men, not getting a free pass when it comes to interacting romantically.
ethan_hines
While not “technically” official, a fanfic called Star Trek “Blood and Fire” was created in In 2008, featured what I would consider a more “natural” gay relationship ending with Kirk’s Nephew getting the Captain’s blessing for marriage to a Lt. Alex Freeman. I suggest all die-hard fans at least check it out. http://www.stnv.de/en/4×04-5_blood_and_fire.php