Another nice episode, can’t wait to keep watching QE.
I also love Star Trek Discovery’s gay relationship because it’s so genuine, especially because I dislike Lt Paul Stamets (as a person, not as a character), but I love Dr Hugh Culber, so the relationship is especially complex for me.
Obviously the best form of representation ever is Sense8. I never thought I would watch orgy scenes and think… this series is so wholesome! But I think the Wachowskis manage just that. I’ve never seen sexuality been shown so openly and appriaciatively. The Wachowskis have always thought of unrestrained sexuality as essential to the human condition (In the Matrix there is that scene with the huge Rave in Zion, which was an assertion of what it means to be human as opposed to machine) but even then the orgy scenes seemed a little like forbidden fruit and edgy.
I also love Orange is the New Black, not only for it’s representation of LGBTQ folks, but also a reflection of what it is to be any and every kind of woman in the criminal justice system. I love how it focuses on humanizing the experience of even the worst criminals without detracting responsibility from their actions. I think the show is a continuous exercise in empathy and its beautiful!
Lastly I love how Bioware games are focusing on creating different relationship options that cater to different gender identities and sexual preferences. Theres a lot that can be done to make options more equal, but I also appreciated their doubling down on how the available roster of relationship is unequal. i.e. in Dragon Age Inquisition there are more options for women than the are for men. In Mass Effect Andromeda (Which I’m playing now, there were only two options for gay men, but they made Jaal bisexual in the latest update so now its a bit more balanced.
Another Star Trek mention: Jadzia Dax and Lenara Kahn from DS9’s season 4 episode “Rejoined.” I know that some in the gay community have criticized it as being a representation cop-out, as their previous hosts were a heterosexual couple, but as a bisexual woman, I love it. It aired in 1995, and far as I know, Jadzia is still the only canon-confirmed bisexual (pansexual?) in the series who hasn’t been coded as “evil” or “slutty” or “confused.” Plus, it was Trek’s first same-sex romance and same-sex kiss.
And it’s just a good episode. I tear up every time I watch it, lol.
