“To Boldly Go”: Exploring Depictions of Queerness in The Orville and Star Trek: The Next Generation

Science fiction creates dialogue about social issues by depicting potential futures and reflecting on the present as if it were the past. The genre’s use of alien species gives writers control over cultures, allowing them to craft allegories that encourage audiences to reconsider their own beliefs. By presenting sociopolitical issues in unfamiliar settings, science fiction enables viewers to detach from preconceptions and form new associations. The Orville, inspired by Star Trek: The Next Generation, employs this technique through its portrayal of the Moclans, a single-gender species designed to parallel human cultural debates. Star Trek has long challenged societal norms, exemplified by characters like Chekhov and Uhura, though it was slower to incorporate queer representation. When queerness is explored, it is often through an inversion of oppression rather than direct representation. This project explores allegory and the inversion of oppression in Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Orville, particularly regarding queerness. Historically, queer representation in media has been devalued, erased, or censored. As society moves toward greater inclusion, it is crucial to analyze how queerness is depicted in science fiction and how the genre shapes cultural perceptions of identity and oppression.