Summary

• Modern Star Trek shows have embraced LGBTQ+ representation without the need for characters to come out, focusing on their stories.
• Queer characters in Star Trek now live in a world where acceptance is the norm, reflecting a more inclusive future.
• LGBTQ+ characters in Star Trek are fully fleshed out individuals, with their queerness just one aspect of their identity.

The Star Trek shows on Paramount+ have given Star Trek canon a wealth of new LGBTQ+ characters. Led by Star Trek: Discovery, which included Star Trek's first gay main characters in Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), every Star Trek show in the modern era has featured at least one character that represents the LGBTQ+ community. Even Star Trek: Prodigy, aimed at a younger audience, represents diversity with the care that it deserves. Post-Discovery, the ideal future that Star Trek represents is open to everyone, because queerness isn't a deviation from the norm, but integrated into society fully.

This kind of acceptance permeates most of the LGBTQ+ representation in modern Star Trek. Queer Star Trek characters usually don't need to actually come out; instead, they're able to just live their lives without question, and rarely meet resistance from others. It's a fantastic evolution from the Trill social taboo that stood in for 90s attitudes towards same-sex couples in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 4, episode 5, "Reed", when Star Trek's first same-sex kiss between Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) and Lenara Kahn (Susanna Thompson) was a big deal. Each LGBTQ+ character on Star Trek is interesting on their own, independent of their queerness.

11 Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp)

Star Trek: Discovery

In addition to being one of Star Trek's first gay main characters, Commander Paul Stamets is the brilliant astromycologist who invented the USS Discovery's spore drive in Star Trek: Discovery. Stamets put his own life and career on the line to ensure the spore drive had a reliable navigator, volunteering himself for the role by splicing tardigrade DNA into his own, which gives Stamets an inherent connection to the galactic mycelial network. That connection meant that the memory of Paul's husband, Dr. Hugh Culber, was alive within the mycelial network after Culber's Star Trek: Discovery season 1 murder, so Paul's love for Hugh quite literally resurrected Dr. Culber in Discovery season 2.

Stamets' innate curiosity and joyful pursuit of scientific discovery overtakes the general irritability that first characterized Stamets in Star Trek: Discovery's early seasons, something Stamets himself even points out when pretending to be a younger version of himself in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4, "Face the Strange". Paul's trend towards kindness evolves over the course of Star Trek: Discovery, as Stamets becomes something of a mentor to 32nd-century Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio), whom Stamets and Culber take in as their own child.

10 Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz)

Star Trek: Discovery

The other half of Star Trek's first gay couple, Dr. Hugh Culber is murdered by Lt. Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) in Star Trek: Discovery season 1. After Culber is revived as one of Stamets' mycelial memories who comes into the physical plane of reality, Dr. Culber begins to evolve as a character. Death and resurrection isn't new to Star Trek, but Star Trek: Discovery's serialized nature meant that Culber's story was a thorough exploration of trauma, grief, confusion, and eventually, spiritual enlightenment.

After the USS Discovery's crash-landing in the 32nd century, both Culber and Stamets cope with the trauma of Star Trek: Discovery's time jump by committing themselves fully to their jobs, to the point of overworking themselves, which was a trait that most of Discovery's crew shared. Recognizing this, Hugh Culber takes on the responsibility of becoming the ship's counselor, hoping to ease the crew's transition into the future.

Stamets and Culber's relationship is not without its challenges. After being resurrected, Dr. Culber is uncertain about his own existence, and questions whether his marriage to Paul Stamets is still valid. As Stamets pursues scientific renown in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, Culber leans into exploring spirituality. The differences between Stamets and Culber make them stronger, however, as both each other unconditionally.

9 Ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio)

Star Trek: Discovery

Ensign Adira Tal is a 32nd century member of Earth's United Defense Force who s Starfleet after encountering the USS Discovery. Adira is also Star Trek's first nonbinary main character. Unlike most other queer Star Trek characters, Adira comes out to Paul Stamets in Star Trek: Discovery season 3, episode 8, "The Sanctuary", in which Adira nervously explains that they "never felt like a 'she' or a 'her,'" and requests to be referred to as "they or them". Stamets' reaction is easy acceptance, and Stamets' usage of the correct pronouns for Adira effortlessly spreads to the rest of the USS Discovery crew.

Adira Tal is also unique as the first successful permanent ing of a Trill symbiont with a human host. After the death of Adira's Trill boyfriend, Gray Tal (Ian Alexander), the Tal symbiont needs an emergency host, so Adira volunteers. Rather than reject the symbiont, Tal and Adira bond completely as a ed entity. The Trill community reacts poorly, to say the least, but ultimately accepts that Tal is ed to Adira, once Adira undergoes the rituals to reawaken Tal's memories in Star Trek: Discovery season 3, episode 4, "Forget Me Not".

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5, episode 17, "The Outcast", the J'naii are an alien society without gender. One representative, Soren (Melinda Culea), confesses to Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) that she is female, not nonbinary, making Soren one of the first transgender characters on Star Trek.

8 Gray Tal (Ian Alexander)

Star Trek: Discovery

Gray Tal is introduced by Star Trek: Discovery in a flashback that depicts his life with love interest Adira, ing with Trill symbiont Tal, and accidental death on a generational ship seeking the Federation in the 32nd century. After Adira's ing with Tal, Gray appears to Adira as a non-corporeal entity that only Adira can perceive, fashioned from the memories of the Tal symbiont. It's an interesting parallel to Commander Stamets unconsciously preserving his own husband, Hugh Culber, within the mycelial network, so Culber and Stamets are primed to help Gray transition from mere consciousness into a brand-new body.

Gray's story is a metaphor for the positive power of gender-affirming health care for transgender people. Gray's new body uses the same technology as the synthetic body for iral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in Star Trek: Picard, but hasn't been widely adopted because of its low success rate. That doesn't deter Culber and Trill Guardian Xi (Andreas Apergis) from attempting the procedure. Gray will be dead without a new body, and very much alive with one, so there is no question but to give Gray his body. After the procedure's success, Gray is truly seen by everyone as he is meant to be.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4, episode 23, "The Host", Trill ambassador Odan (Franc Luz) is temporarily hosted by Commander Riker before ending up with a female host (Nicole Orth-Pallavicini), and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine expands on Trill lore through Dax's former lives with male and female hosts, so it's fitting that Gray and Adira, non-allegorical transgender characters in Star Trek: Discovery, are Trill.

7 Commander Jett Reno (Tig Notaro)

Star Trek: Discovery

The USS Discovery rescues Commander Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) in Star Trek: Discovery season 2, episode 1, "Brother", when the Red Angel's first signal directs the Discovery to the wreckage of the USS Hiawatha. After sustaining the Hiawatha survivors, Reno s the crew of the USS Discovery as a senior engineer known for dry wit, out-of-the-box ideas, and a penchant for snack foods. Reno's generally casual attitude makes her nuggets of wisdom unexpected, but surprisingly valuable, suggesting that Jett Reno does actually care about people, even if Commander Reno might rather have you think she just doesn't have the patience for idiocy.

Commander Reno wears a wedding ring in memory of her late wife, who died during the Klingon War. Reno explains later that she was desperate to keep one of the USS Hiawatha's survivors alive, despite the obvious pain they were in, because they reminded Reno far too much of her wife to let them die. Once Reno made the connection, she was able to let the patient go.

6 Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan)

Star Trek: Picard

Star Trek: Voyager's Seven of Nine returns in Star Trek: Picard season 1 as a Fenris Ranger, rendering aid where needed after being barred from ing Starfleet due to her Borg past. Seven's skills are useful to iral Jean-Luc Picard and the La Sirena crew; after bonding with Picard over their shared Borg trauma, Seven continues to help Picard's team. At the end of Star Trek: Picard season 1, Seven of Nine's romance with Raffi Musiker is teased with a shot of Seven and Raffi holding hands.

At the start of Star Trek: Picard season 2, however, Seven and Raffi are already in a rocky place. Between Seven's difficulty with human interaction and Raffi's complicated history, the relationship is bound to be tricky, but in true Star Trek fashion, communication is the key to harmony. By Star Trek: Picard season 3, Seven of Nine is on active duty as a Starfleet officer, and becomes captain of the USS Enterprise-G with Commander Musiker as her First Officer. It's not clear where Seven and Raffi stand romantically, but that should be apparent if Star Trek: Legacy happens.

Seven of Nine's relationships with men in Star Trek: Voyager were mostly forgettable. As Annika Hansen, Seven had a relationship with Axum (Mark Deakins) that lasted for six years in Unimatrix Zero, the Borg dream reality. Seven of Nine's lackluster relationship with Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) in Star Trek: Voyager season 7 didn't pan out. Seven's relationship with Raffi isn't perfect, but it's clear they're trying to make it work despite the difficulties.

5 Commander Raffaela Musiker (Michelle Hurd)

Star Trek: Picard

Life has not been particularly kind to Raffaela Musiker. Standing with Jean-Luc Picard to help the Romulans effectively ended Raffi's Starfleet career, which precipitated a downward spiral into substance abuse, divorce, and estrangement from Raffi's adult son, so when Picard comes calling for Musiker's help in Star Trek: Picard, Raffi isn't really inclined to Picard again. Still, Musiker's options are limited, and another mission gives Raffi the opportunity to move forward with her life. Commander Musiker's Star Trek: Picard journey finds Raffi back in Starfleet's good graces, and working for Starfleet Intelligence in Star Trek: Picard season 3.

Raffi's relationship with Seven of Nine also represents second chances. Seven is imperfect, but so is Raffi, so the relationship requires effort from both women to avoid the pitfalls of their complicated pasts. No one in Seven and Raffi's immediate circle comments on their Sapphic relationship as something unexpected given their individual relationship histories with men, proving that Star Trek's future accepts the fluidity of human sexuality fairly readily.

4 Captain Angel (Jesse James Keitel)

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Whether in the guise of Dr. Aspen or as the pirate monarch seizing the USS Enterprise, Captain Angel very clearly walks the line with regard to gender. There's something delightful in how comfortable Angel villainously chews scenery like a camp queen and slinks around the gender spectrum, subverting the trope of a queer-coded villain by deliberately owning their queerness.

Captain Angel is married to Sybok, Lt. Spock's (Ethan Peck) older half-brother, who uses the name Xaverius and is held in a Vulcan criminal rehabilitation center.

In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 7, "The Serene Squall", Angel suggests that Spock doesn't have to commit to being either Vulcan or human, but can instead embrace being "neither". The idea of rejecting societal categorization reflects how Angel's own balancing act with gender is comparable to Spock's struggles with being biracial. Those quiet moments with Spock are personal, revealing how Angel's personal journey influences their perception of the world.

3 Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush)

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Originally portrayed on Star Trek: The Original Series by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, Jess Bush's Nurse Christine Chapel in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is highly skilled, vivacious, and ardently ionate about topics that pique her interest. Romantically, Christine pursues casual, low-stakes relationships with both men and women, but, like in TOS, Chapel always carries a torch for Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck). Strange New Worlds sees Spock reciprocating Christine's otherwise unrequited crush, helped along by Spock's desire to explore the human side of his half-Vulcan heritage.

Nurse Chapel's laser-focus on Spock as a romantic interest doesn't discount Chapel's previous relationships with women, one of which was revealed when Lieutenant Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) brings up a woman that Christine once dated in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 5, "Spock Amok".

2 Zero (Angus Imrie)

Star Trek: Prodigy

Star Trek: Prodigy's Zero is a Medusan, a telepathic species composed of pure energy, whose true form is capable of driving people mad. Because of this, Zero inhabits a mechanical containment suit in a vaguely humanoid shape in order to interact with the environment. Zero's brilliance masks their uncertainty in social situations, but the ragtag young crew of the USS Protostar crew accepts Zero as they are, even after Zero is unwillingly used as a weapon by the Diviner (John Noble).

As a non-corporeal species, Medusans are genderless by nature. The Medusan Ambassador Kollos in Star Trek: The Original Series season 3, episode 7, "Is There in Truth No Beauty?", was referred to with masculine pronouns, but Zero makes it clear that their lack of gender means gender-neutral pronouns are appropriate.