I’ve recently been re-watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and am continuously impressed by the themes and topics the TV show covers. In “The Outcast” (season 5), the Enterprise assists a species that no longer has gender, but now and then, someone is born that associates more with female or male. These people are bullied and abused until the authorities take them away to undergo psycho-therapy to “fix” them. This episode aired in March of 1992. The sentiments expressed are very much a reflection upon those who would oppress the gender identity of individuals today, 23 years later. Of course, I’m talking about the LGBT community. When will the archaic thoughts and treatment of people who are different stop resulting from fear? When will it become the norm and commonplace to treat everyone from a place of understanding, kindness, and compassion?
In the episode, Soren, a member of this genderless race identifies as female, falls in love with Riker, but is then discovered by the authorities and put on trial for perversion. She makes an impassioned plea for those with gender identities:
“I am female. I was born that way. I have had those feelings, those longings all of my life. It is not unnatural. I am not sick because I feel this way. I do not need to be helped, I do not need to be cured. What I need, and what all of those who are like me need, is your understanding, and your compassion. We have not injured you in any way; and yet, we are scorned and attacked all because we are different. What we do is no different from what you do. We talk and laugh. We complain about work and we wonder about growing old. We talk about our families and we worry about the future, and we cry with each other when things seem hopeless. All of the loving things that you do with each other, that is what we do. And for that we are called ‘misfits’ and ‘deviants’ and ‘criminals’. What right do you have to punish us? What right do you have to change us? What makes you think you can dictate how people love each other?”
The response of the tribunal:
“After [this] diatribe you must think we are a cruel and oppressive people. Nothing could be further from the truth…We’re concerned about our citizens and we take our obligations seriously. Soren is sick and sick people want to get well. We have a very high success rate in treating deviants like this and without exception they become happier people after their treatment, and grateful that we care enough to cure them. You see, on this world, everyone wants to be normal.”
Sound familiar? I look forward to the day when it doesn’t.
Lara is one of Erica’s oldest friends who constantly seeks to balance the mind, heart, and spirit to not only make herself a better person, but to positively impact the lives of those around her. She and Erica hope that one day, everyone will be treated with compassion and kindness based on the quality of their character.
Erica Is A Professional 