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Of all the networks that received failing grades from GLAAD’s Network Responsibility Index, so far only Syfy has responded.
Mark Stern, Syfy’s executive vice president in charge of original content, made a statement to TV Guide that is sensible enough that I can almost forgive the network for its recent, terrible name change.
Stern said that Syfy is trying for more diversity, but also acknowledged that the network has a way to go. He touted two new series, a new Stargate and the Battlestar Galactica spinoff Caprica, that are slated to feature complex main characters in same-sex relationships.
As happy as I am about that as a member of the LGBT community with marked dork tendencies, it does make me wonder why it’s so hard to find nonstraight characters in science fiction.
I’m speaking mostly of movies and television, though even during my fairly voracious adolescent reading of sci fi and fantasy, I can only recall coming across one character that wasn’t straight – it was a minor character, from a planet that had four different genders, and was only mentioned in passing.
I later found some queer science fiction books, but it took an experienced guide and some hacking through the underbrush. And even then, these were “niche” science fiction books, marketed specifically – and only – at the LGBT community.
Why do there seem to be so few gay characters in mainstream science fiction books, and even fewer on screen?
After all, the genre is all about exploring the “what if” questions, and is ideal for exploring the potential ramifications of social issues. It seems like gay, lesbian, bi, trans, and intergender characters would offer rich areas for exploration.
I know that the LGBT community and the nerd community intersect by quite a bit. Why are so many science fiction movies and shows aimed at a presumed audience of straight fanboys? And all too often homophobic ones at that?
It’s a shame that the bulk of the industry seems to accept and pander to the stereotype of the straight, male science fiction fan who is so insecure about his own sexuality that he’ll be threatened by anyone else’s. The original Star Trek explored love between different species but we still can’t see two guys kiss today?
It’s a shame that the TV and film industries aren’t more willing to give fans credit for being open minded and even more so if they’re deliberately catering to people’s bigotries.
We’re missing several opportunities here. The first is educating the young straight members of the science fiction audience, who with the help of some compelling LGBT characters could learn that we’re not so scary after all.
The second is the ability to reach members of the LGBT of the community who don’t have a support network. Just seeing good gay characters is helpful in itself, but with a little more attention to LGBT-friendly themes, science fiction movies and TV shows could carry some useful messages. Who among us hasn’t felt a little alien at some point?
Finally, more LGBT-friendly science fiction means more interesting shows and more fun for the entire viewing audience. Every good SF fan knows that it only gets better when there is more to explore.
First let’s get the obvious out of the way, the new name (SyFy) bllloooooooows. Do they think they’re going to get the non-SciFi crowd by changing the name?
Less lightheartedly, it’s not just that science fiction explored social issues. It has traditionally strongly advocated both for scientific curiousity and progressive social issues. Even on TV. The original Star Trek may seem almost silly to some audiences now, but at the time it was a very forward moving advocate on several issues including race and ethnocentricity.
This is in fact why many of us are fanboys/girls, because we not only got our scientitific curiousities stoked, but because we saw people (writers) working on ideals we could admire. Those who fear losing audiences by doing so now are missing the point. We, the audience, want it (preferably encapsulated in a good story).
Ali, I think I had a little different experience than you in my early reading. Not that that there were a lot of LGBTI characters, but I lucked into a lot of them. For instance, I remember reading a lot of Heinlein.
The fact that there weren’t any definitively gay characters in the Battlestar Galactica remake actually surprised me, given the overall tone and style of the show… But there was some slight gay subtext among some of the Cylon models.
There have been gay characters in science fiction before; Star Trek and Babylon 5 are the first to come to mind.
Star Wars has always bothered me due to the almost total lack of any LGBT characters at all; in all SW media I know of only one character who was gay. Stargate SG-1 also lacked any gay characters, but intimate relationships were not really part of SG-1’s plot anyway.
Ali:
‘The first is educating the young straight members of the science fiction audience, who with the help of some compelling LGBT characters could learn that we’re not so scary after all.’
Is this necessary? Geeks tend to be more inclined to support our rights anyway.
Sarah:
The name does indeed blow.
Kari –
I agree that most adult geeks are supportive, but there is still a segment of the young fanboy population that isn’t.
And I think a lot of adolescents go through a phase in which they don’t feel comfortable supporting LGBT rights, regardless of what they grow up to be – it can’t hurt to make things easier by putting some kickass characters out there.
Sara – sounds like you were luckier in your reading choices than I was – I’m glad there’s more out there than what I’ve seen.
And I’m glad we can all agree that the name “Syfy” is just embarrassingly bad.
Yes the new name blows. I will miss not seeing Amanda Tapping in the new SG and as for Caprica, I hope it’s interesting as we already know what is going to eventually happen.
Sci-Fi had GLBT characters in the reruns of B5 and ST so they can do it again. Having geeks on our side can only help.
This could beg the question, what makes a G&L character? I mean, there’s the obvious Willow from Buffy… but there are so many gay and lesbian undertones that could lead viewers to believe a character is gay or lesbian even though they aren’t physically linked or come right out and say they are gay and lesbian. Even if a character is in a straight relationship, they can still come across as gay or lesbian.
“Gay and lesbian” is diff from straight because of who we are physical with and most TV doesn’t show the pure physical. Though the cable shows have no excuse with their constant gross spewing of breeder love.
Torchwood: Children of Earth, which recently ran on BBC America had an “omnisexual” male lead character who was in an intimate relationship with another leading male character. Torchwood has had a number of episodes involving gay relationships. This program ran for five prime-time evenings on the BBC flagship station in the UK and had terrific ratings and reviews. The series’ executive producer, Russell T. Davies, and lead character, John Barrowman, are both gay. John Barrowman has also made a number of appearences in the extraordinarily popular Doctor Who series. Captain Jack’s love interest in The Doctor was made very clear.
In the 80s, I found many sci fi (and fantasy) books with queer content, on my own, at my local chain bookstore. SF (no pun intended) is an area rich with queer sexuality, but those stories are almost never moved to the screen. One significant book that comes to mind is Dhalgren. But it’s probably unfilmable.
randy, hopefully, syfy will finally consider to make those SF (fantasy) books into TV movies or TV shows. I’m curious as to what are those books. Thanks.
I would like to correct myself. Apparently there was a gay character in Battlestar Galactica.
Leeanna: If I understood GLAAD’s methodology correctly, they will not judge a character ‘gay’ unless they ‘come out’, are described as being gay in promotional materials, or some kind of same-sex interaction occurs that is outside of what can be considered being a close friend.
I am curious as to what you are referring to as “gay characters” on Star Trek. I am a Trekkie and do not recall a character being gay on any of the series. While there were “gay moments” (Jadzia’s Kissing a Woman) it was usually temporary or shown in the Mirror Mirror universe. I am curious as to who you seem to think was gay on Star Trek. (Yes, George Takei came out of the closet, but his character didn’t) Gene Roddenberry himself stated in an interview back in like 1990 once that he wished he could show LGBT characters in Star Trek but the higher ups did not want it. Sadly he died before it could become reality and it has not really become reality, well not on the series anyway. In the novels there have been a number of gay characters including Lt. Hawk from Star Trek: First Contact. Sadly the novels do not count though. I was only talking about the shows. So again I reiterate,
When did a gay character appear on Star Trek?
Thanks for listening.
There were no Gay characters on any of the StarTrek shows.
I prefer fantasy to science fiction but the bookstores usually lump them together so my recommendation is for you to read these books by Mercedes Lackey: Magic’s Pawn, Magic’s Promise, and Magic’s Price. The lead character, Vanyel, is the perfect hero who happens to be gay. I connected with it when I was young because of the way he was treated by his father.
The name change is one of the worst re-brandings in marketing history. I assume it will be undone within a matter of months.
As for “gay characters”, the important thing is to be respectful of people, no matter what their differences, without distracting from a narrative. We don’t need gay characters for the sake of diversity (token pandering), nor do we want a glossing-over of gay plot elements for the sake of political correctness (in either direction). What we want is “blindness” to the orientation of characters. All networks – whether their names be fortunate or unfortunate – need to allow the creative freedom for a diverse staff to flourish. It is only then that a full spectrum of experiences can emerge.
Mercedes Lackey’s Last Herald-Mage Trilogy was the first mainstream full on out gay hero in fantasy. In her Valdemar series, she has had out main characters all along.
Anne McCaffery also had gay characters in her Pern series, though on the oblique side due to it being mostly written in the 70’s. As the series has matured, she clarified an honorable place for gay men within the society she created.
Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, while not strictly within the genre of sci-fi/fantasy is close enough. Many of her books have that same-sex tone that is very appealing.
So, the book end of things has been around for quite a while. Considering my shelves are filled with sci-fi/fantasy from nearly all periods of writing, I have a good range to work from.
Movies, tv… well, not so much. You’ll have to go foreign to get anywhere, some Japanese sci-fi, definitely anime. Otherwise sparse.
I can’t focus on the gay part right now. SyFy–WTF??? Who is responsible for that? Is the renaming all a gimmick?