Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, IDW, Star Trek | Tagged: pride, star trek, trans

Star Trek Gets New Trans Representation And Lore This Week (Spoilers)

Trans literature and science fiction have often gone hand in hand. And now Star Trek gets new trans representation and lore (Spoilers)

Trans literature and science fiction have often gone hand in hand. Even if the authors have sometimes been a little heavy-handed about it, or maybe not quite understood the implications of the technology they have at hand. Gender being less of an issue, body modification at the touch of a button, personal avatars, alien life having different attitudes to, or experiences of gender, it's given some authors that chance to ask "what if" you weren't restrained either by your own biology or social expectations.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin is a classic example, where humanity meets an alien race that changes gender through its life. Robert A. Heinlein wrote a number of examples, my favourite being All You Zombies, in which everyone in the story, male or female, is the same person courtesy of time travel and gender reassignment, including the main character's mother and father.

And it has become a staple long before comic books picked up on it. Even Star Trek has tried it out, notably with the Trill in Star Trek: The Next Generation who merge with different humanoid host bodies, male or female, through their lives, explored in Deep Space Nine long before Discovery introduced non-binary Trill.

But what of Star Trek humans? This week sees the publication of Star Trek: Celebrations comic book from IDW by Vita Ayala, Hannah Rose May, Steve Orlando, Magdalene Visaggio, Jack Lawrence, Denny More, Denny Minonne, Stephanie Williams, Trench, Liana Kangas and more. It includes one story by Magdalene Visaggio and Trench, looking at Nurse Chapel in 2255 – then just Christine Chapel – and her attempt to create a new solution for contacting pre-Warp civilisations. Set one year ahead of Discovery, eleven years ahead of The Original Series… and also a hundred years after the established year that the Geneva Convention on Biological Weapons was renewed in Star Trek lore.

In doing so, recognising the difference between classic Klingon and later Kilingon as down to an "augment virus" as established in Discovery. My dad always used to call Star Trek species "nose aliens," "chin aliens," or "ear aliens." So we have Chapel working on gene therapy, which is naturally against all the Star Trek laws, as a result of what Khan got up to.

And that is something that Christine Chapel's girlfriend Roz can help with.

A trans Starfleet member who has technology that helps maintain her physical presence in 2255, even if gene editing is off the table. And, for Nurse Chapel, it's a start, even if would take until the Next Generation to get there… The Enterpise Incident still needed surgery. Star Trek Celebrations is published ahead of Pride Month this Wednesday.

STAR TREK CELEBRATIONS #1 CVR A GANUCHEAU
IDW
MAR241164
(W) Vita Ayala, Hannah Rose May, Steve Orlando, Magdalene Visaggio (CA) Paulina Ganucheau
"Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate but to celebrate differences in ideas and differences in life forms." -Gene Roddenberry
IDW proudly presents a one-shot anthology centering and celebrating LGBTQIA+ characters from across the Star Trek universe! Join legendary heroes from each era of the beloved franchise in stories that showcase the strengths of infinite diversity in infinite combinations, brought to you by a star-studded cast of writers and artists including Vita Ayala, Steve Orlando, Mags Visaggio, and more!In Shops: May 29, 2024 SRP: $5.99

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