John Scalzi Goes Where Star Trek Won't

When I was the editor of AfterElton.com, one of my biggest complaints about gay visibility in pop culture had to do with the lack of GLBT characters in science fiction. For a genre that was supposed to be about looking forward, breaking new boundaries, and going where no man had gone before, sci fi was disappointingly heterosexual.

That was especially true for Star Trek, which was so proud of being a progressive show where interracial relationships existed without comment and Russians worked with Americans (it was a Cold War thing). Too bad that progressive streak vanished when it came to gay issues. Over the course of five series and umpteen number of movies Star Trek steadfastly refused to deal with the topic -- unless it was through lame metaphors about blood viruses and genderless aliens.

AfterElton.com wrote about the issue numerous times, including when I interviewed Brannon Braga (http://www.afterelton.com/TV/2011/01/...), who really didn't get the issue, and most recently with JJ Abrams (http://www.afterelton.com/movies/2011...), who at least seemed to understand my point. (We'll have to see if the new Star Trek movie finally includes some actual gay content.)

It's true the Star Trek books have included some gay content, but since most of the world knows Star Trek through TV and the movies, I'll give the franchise only a little credit. It will only be when the powers that be add a gay character to a movie or series that I'll finally stop criticizing them.

Unfortunately, sci fi books haven't been that much better when it comes to gay characters. Don't get me wrong -- it definitely has been better (check out Steven Harper's Silent Empire series), but it is still pretty remarkable when a mainstream sci fi book includes a GLBT character in any significant way.

Which brings me to John Scalzi's Old Man's War. I confess, I'm late to the Scalzi party. I didn't have much reading time for reading fiction from 2005 until nearly 2012, and I'd especially drifted away from sci fi, which felt as if it had grown rather stale.

So when Old Man's War came out in 2005, I just missed the boat. However, I've done a lot of reading the past year and last month I finally read Scalzi's debut novel; not only was it a top notch story, it also went where Star Trek hasn't. Yep, Old Man's War includes an out gay character who is just as tough and smart and sexual as the other characters.

It's sad that this fact is still noteworthy.

After reading Old Man's War, I did some research into Scalzi and learned that when it comes to gay issues (and probably everything else) this straight man is one of the most enlightened on the planet. He's defended the inclusion of gay characters in Young Adult literature, spoken out for marriage equality, and very recently turned a bigot's homophobia, racism, and sexism into a fundraising tool (http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/02/02...).

So be sure to check out Old Man's War (and the rest of Scalzi's oeuvre) as soon as you can. And if JJ Abrams happens to this read , John Scalzi can show you how to include actual gay characters!