i was waiting to discuss this, so let's talk about #StarTrekLowerDecks , LGBTQ+ rep, bi visibility and mike mcmahan's interview from variety. read the whole thing here if you like (and i encourage), but in particular we're gonna be dissecting these bits: https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1314394278123233283

first? alright. cool- thanks for admitting it wasn't there, and that hindsight at how you handled past material is sometimes 20/20.
but the fact it wasn't there matters, and i'd like to explain why, even if made with future pledges, some language here frustrates LGBTQ+ trekkies:

the exhausting effort it takes to find validation in breadcrumbs/afterthoughts outside of canon has plagued trek for years. at times it's understandable b/c of both the era it released in and Certain Showrunners; but now it's 2019, and this is something that cannot keep happening

for LGBTQ+ rep (and while we CAN claim these), i shouldn't have to be told to "be happy" with PIC S1 having a 3-second handhold, a showrunner telling me "yeah we had a lack of it" over IG stories, an actor stating someone's bi on twitter, and now LWD S1 delivering a similar story

it's not a writing foible nor fault to explicitly state someone's preferences are out loud and clearly what their sexuality or identity is, and it is tiring waiting for confirmations outside canon. we had to deal with this w/ PIC S1, and seeing it again with LWD is disappointing

as an additional note, AS a bisexual: as much as we love saying "everyone's gay in trek," saying "everyone's a little bi" is erasing and invalidating to people who DO have different identities and bi people themselves. we cannot teeter into these assimilationist, erasing mindsets

like sure! humanity WRT sexuality will look different in 2020-2380! i'm not critiquing that! what i AM critiquing is the idea that "this can be used as an excuse to swathe over a wider issue of not examining and erasing varying sexualities," because we're different for a /reason/

trek is a series DEDICATED to and celebrating diversity. making assumptive charges in such a way erases people's differences, and instead swathes over responsibility to proper representation: no matter how background element-ish, throwaway, or episode-spanning the arc/romance is

this probably wasn't said in intentional ill will or with biphobic intent. i get that. it's a lot enough as a showrunner/creator to go on the record and admit your own faults, and also accept that fault. BUT IN THAT, you gotta make good on the pledge to do better. how? let's go:

hire LGBTQ+ writers and encourage those voices in your writer's room. examine your staff and reflect on WHY it's easier to default to a cisheteronormativity- where kisses and flirtations between m/f are thrown around so carelessly, but other LGBTQ+ identities must be "remembered"

i thank @dilfsarek for this, but if mariner and ramsey were a man and woman, with the way LWD carried itself over S1, they would've absolutely kissed or had some sort of romantic connotation WRT their history. if this is assumptive, i apologize, but it's what was made to expect

so what makes LGBTQ+ rep, casual or significant, more laborious? why are we seen as an extra effort that could be "tried a little bit" on? in a sci-fi world that's built on IDIC, why do LGBTQ+ people seem to be so strenuous to be thought of and included as a "baseline" diversity?

this is predictable coming from the borg/xB freak, but our sexualities and identities are a part of who we are as individuals. humanity's not a hivemind. we have to engage with a society that threatens our very personhood every day, and that no, not "everyone is a little bit gay"

progressiveness does not equate to assumption, thereby leading to assimilation. there must be an effort for equity, LGBTQ+ people need to have a VOICE and CLEAR indicator in your material, and as creators you have a responsibility to allow ways for representation to be visible

anyway @MikeMcMahanTM & LWD crew i hope you're listening to these conversations. you've said you're willing to learn & accept fault; lower decks is a great show, and we WANT to see it do better.
wrong "star" series, but do or do not. when it comes to LGBTQ+ rep, there is no try.