Is a Gay Character on the Horizon?

Bringing gay characters to the sci-fi franchise Star Trek is a possibility, but they may have been there all along, according to J.J. Abrams in an interview with website AfterElton.

The writer-director-producer, whose credits include TV's Lost and the films Cloverfield and Super 8, is responsible for the reboot of the popular series, including the 2009 film and the planned 2012 sequel.

During the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif., this week, Abrams was asked when an obviously gay character will appear in a Star Trek movie. The filmmaker says it's definitely a possibility, but notes that "there are many people who say there have been gay characters in the show all throughout."

Abrams says adding a gay character is something "I would love to do, but ... I would be careful doing a story that would involve any of the characters and their personal lives." He recognizes the possible pitfalls of obtrusively inserting an LGBT character, saying, "When there is a black character or an Asian character, that's something that's an identifiable thing that you don't have to stop the story and say 'let's now make a point of that person being Asian.'"

Abrams adds, "I just wouldn't want the agenda to be ... whether it's a heterosexual relationship or a homosexual relationship, to tell a story that was, that felt distracting from part of the purpose of the story is."

Read the full interview here.