Producer Regrets Lack of Gay Characters

Brannon Braga, the producer of more than a dozen feature films and 700 episodes in the Star Trek franchise, said that he regrets not featuring openly gay characters.

TV Guide reports on an interview Braga gave to AfterElton.com, where the producer talks about general avoidance of the subject and reluctance on the part of decision makers.

"It was a shame," Braga said to AfterElton.com. "I'm talking about the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and there was a constant back and forth about well how do we portray the spectrum of sexuality. There were people who felt very strongly that we should be showing casually, you know, just two guys together in the background in Ten Forward. At the time, the decision was made not to do that and I think those same people would make a different decision now because I think, you know, that was 1989, well yeah about '89, '90, '91. I have no doubt that those same creative players wouldn't feel so hesitant to have, you know, have been squeamish about a decision like that."

George Takei, who played Sulu on the original Star Trek series and in many films, came out in 2005 and married his partner Brad Altman in 2008.

Braga is currently executive producer of Terra Nova, and upcoming series on Fox. He said he would consider including gay characters on that show.