Society has sure come a long way, hasn't it? I mean, isn't that the main thoughts on why Star Trek, in all of its 700 hours of entertainment, decided to address practically every single socio-political issue except one?

I know that when people talk about the story of how Gene Roddenberry wanted to include gay characters in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" back in 1987, this gleam appears in their eye as if the Great Bird of the Galaxy was doing it just for them. But I'm sorry. I don't think Roddenberry ever had any intention of putting a girlie-man on his starship. Robert H. Justman, either.

Roddenberry was the kind of lip service, and he would tell a crowd whatever they wanted to hear. Gay people on the Enterprise? You got it. An episode about taxidermy? Let me call the writers. A new alien baddie named Reagans? Look for our season-ending cliffhanger.

Not that Roddenberry was a bad guy. I mean, he lived in a time when being gay was not exactly something you wrote home to mom about, unless you were using it as a synonym for "happy." And even in the "enlightened" 1980s, a common word people called each other was a particular word Ann Coulter likes to describe John Edwards as.

It is sad that it took 20 years for a good story written by David Gerrold to make it to the screen, featuring openly gay characters. And even worse, it had to be done by a fan production, and not by a Paramount-sanctioned Star Trek itself. Not that there's anything at all wrong with "Star Trek: New Voyages" as it rivals many professional television shows out there, but I would hope even the showrunner there would ask, "Why are we the first Trek to tackle homosexuality?"

Several months ago, I watched "Philadelphia" again for the first time in years, and I guess I just went through a timewarp culture shock. Here was a movie that came out in 1992, when I was a sophomore in high school, and it wasn't so much that Tom Hanks played a man with AIDS, but he played a gay man in a positive light. That was something you didn't see very much of leading into 1992.

Today, not only did a gay movie almost win an Oscar a year ago, but there are gay-themed television series, reality contestants, and even a couple of networks (if you count Bravo, which you should). So why do we need to talk about the gays now?

Society still has a long way to go, that's why. Ann Coulter throws out the word like she's in 1985. "Rocky" on the current "Survivor" series verbally attacks Anthony because he's "effeminate." A city commission in Largo, Fla., moves to fire their city manager because he wishes to go from Steven to Susan.

There is this belief that homosexuals have to be effeminate, that they have to be girlie, that they must hate sports, that they are easy to spot in a crowd. Why not give us a character that's not just gay, but who also defies all the stereotypes. While those types of people exist, they are not exclusive. And what's so bad about being effeminate anyway?

It's about time that Star Trek tackles homosexuality, even if it's in a fan production. The only thing I can say is, What happened to Star Trek being last to tackle such controversial issues when it used to be that Star Trek was first? I guess that's a question that will never be answered.

SyBits

I hope everyone enjoyed Alan Stanley Blair filling in for me last week. Sometimes, a break helps to refresh the mind and come up with new things to bitch about. Of course, talking about gays in science-fiction really isn't all that new, even for this column, so maybe I just need another week for the benefits of that break to kick in.

One thing I definitely wanted to make sure everyone kept in mind is that Sunday's Season 3 finale of "Battlestar Galactica" will run five minutes overtime. So if you're DVRing or you made plans for Sunday at 11, make sure you find a way to watch those final five minutes, because they are definitely worth watching.

You'll also see that we provided some major spoilers on the site Thursday in regards to "Battlestar Galactica." It really had me torn whether we should include it or not, and so I decided to just find a compromise by giving some, but not giving it all. I don't want you to not tune in to see BSG simply because you know what's going to happen. Now, if you even dared to open up that particular story, you will get more than you'll ever find officially. But you don't know it all ... and that's just how things work around here.

We'll hold off on the mailbag this week, but if you want to be considered for a future column, send me your thoughts right now at mhinman@airlockalpha.com. In the meantime, our friends in the Joss Whedon fandom wanted us to let you know this.

In celebration of the 10th Anniversary of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," The Powers That Be behind RememberAngel.com and Whedonopolis.com will host a very special screening; a big bad double-bill of the Buffy sing-along episode, "Once More With Feeling" and the Angel episode, "Smile Time." Two classics together for one night on the big screen!

This Los Angeles event will benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to preventing pediatric AIDS through research, advocacy, and prevention and treatment programs.

The event will take place April 20 at 10 p.m. at Laemmle OneColorado, 42 Miller Alley, Pasadena, Calif., 91103. The cost is $15, and tickets for the night of music, singing, dancing crazy, demon puppets and edutainment, are available by clicking one of the links above.

Hey, if I were in California and not Florida, I'd be there in a stake-filled heartbeat!

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Have a great week, and don't be a stranger!

Michael Hinman, recently named Time magazine's Person of the Year, is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha, writing out of Tampa, Fla. He can be reached at mhinman@airlockalpha.com.

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