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When I was a kid, my dad and I never missed an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I was fascinated by the adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise’s diverse, weird, and wondrous crew of future beings seeking, as Captain Jean-Luc Picard explained in the opening credits, “to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.” Cue the horns. I was inspired by Star Trek’s noble mission. (And I may have had a baby crush on actor Wil Wheaton.) More than that, however, Star Trek was a show that both I, in my budding queerness, and my father could enjoy together. No matter our differences, we bonded for one hour each weekend over our shared love of…

For Mary Wiseman, joining the cast of Star Trek: Discovery meant boldly going on a journey beyond the bounds of her comfort zone. For one thing, she’d always thought that Star Trek wasn’t meant for people like her — progressive, queer, and female. “Star Trek always kind of felt like something outside of me,” she says. “I think mainly because I had an uncle who was a pretty conservative guy, and he was the guy in my life who loved Star Trek. So, it was always kind of ‘over there, for men’…with maybe a more conservative ideology.” When the role of theoretical engineer Sylvia Tilly (formerly an ensign, now a lieutenant) presented itself and Wiseman took a closer look at the franchise, however, she was shocked — albeit pleasantly —…

After reading the script for the season 2 finale of Star Trek: Discovery, Emily Coutts — the actor who portrays Keyla Detmer, a bridge officer and pilot aboard U.S.S. Discovery — burst into tears in her car. In the storyline, crew members of the Starfleet ship decide to join Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) in traveling to the future. In doing so, they chose to leave the life they knew in order to advance the greater good. In that moment, Coutts recalls thinking, “This is where I’m at in my life right now. I can stay where things are comfortable. Or I can go and grow into my full self, and really come out, and tell everyone, and celebrate that, and go to the future, whatever that holds.” “It wasn’t so…

When Chuck James began working in the mailroom at William Morris in the ’90s, it was the best of times, the worst of times at the storied talent agency. It was the “heyday” of Hollywood, James recalls, when “agents were as famous as the clients.” Personal relationships and schmoozing, through an endless stream of lunches and cocktails, pumped movie-making lifeblood. And for the assistants who worked for these power players — James was hired as one at ICM Partners after William Morris — it was a nightmare “every other day.” “The first few desks I was on were terrorizing,” recounts James, adding, “It was also a different time when the employee handbook didn’t really exist. It’s a time of yelling and screaming and judging — this is outside of being…

It’s a shame time travel doesn’t exist (yet). The past two years have been terrible. The future is uncertain. Who wouldn’t want to escape to a more golden era on the universe’s timeline? However, as the LGBTQ+ folks in these pages attest, a brighter future can’t be built by evading the problems of the present. Star Trek: Discovery offers the world a glimpse of LGBTQ+ freedom. But it will take the passion and persistence of champions like yourself to boldly fight for those better days ahead. In the meantime, take inspiration from the words of Captain Jean-Luc Picard: “Live now; make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.” OUTMAGAZINE…

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As evidenced by the profiles in this issue, Star Trek: Discovery is one of television’s queerest shows. Out space heroes like Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio), and Gray (Ian Alexander) routinely perform feats of derring-do aboard the U.S.S. Discovery. Behind the scenes and the camera, there are LGBTQ+ folks and allies ushering in a universe of rainbow representation for the long-running sci-fi franchise. Michelle Paradise, in the captain’s chair as Discovery’s co-showrunner, helps guide the writers’ room in crafting these groundbreaking storylines. Diversity is an imperative for her. “From the moment I’ve come on to help run the show, we’ve always talked about the need for and benefits of a diverse cast, and people being able to see themselves on-screen.” “That’s very…

Star Trek has always imagined a brighter future. There’s no money, racism, or homophobia. It’s a better planet — and galaxy — than what we have now. At the same time, the show has pushed forward progress in the real world. The original 1966-1969 series featured the first kiss between white and Black characters on TV: Captain James Kirk (William Shatner) and Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols). With a smooch between husbands Dr. Hugh Culber and chief engineer Paul Stamets — played by, respectively, Wilson Cruz and Anthony Rapp — Star Trek: Discovery took the franchise’s long-held values to new frontiers. They’re not only the first two gay lead characters on a Star Trek show; now, four seasons in, they’re a part of one of the best queer families on television.…