The most recent episode of "Star Trek: Phase II," the fan production from James Cowley formerly known as "Star Trek: New Voyages," released its most recent episode written by former Star Trek scribe David Gerrold to rave reviews.

However, some fans think the series has gone too far with its portrayal of homosexuality, with a few claiming on the site TrekMovie that the same-sex relationship was gratuitous and unnecessary in the episode.

"I'm sorry, but I've just lost a ton of respect for the 'Phase Two' guys," said one poster at TrekMovie named "Brad." "Pushing blatant homosexuality in our faces is not the kind of Star Trek I want to watch. Completely uncalled for and not in the spirit of Star Trek. Disgusting."

The episode, based on a never-produced script by Gerrold for "Star Trek: The Next Generation," features Peter Kirk, the nephew of the famous Enterprise captain, who requests a posting on the ship not because he wants to spend time with his uncle, but so he could be closer to his boyfriend, Alex Freeman. The younger Kirk is played by Bobby Rice while Evan Fowler portrays Freeman.

Cawley, who also stars in the fan-produced series as Kirk, said that while there are gay elements to the episode known as "Blood and Fire" -- especially since it's meant to be an allegory to the AIDS epidemic -- it's not focused on that single subject.

"The episode isn't about being gay," Cawley told the gay-themed Web site AfterElton. "It's about family tensions and a lot of other things."

Michael Jensen, the editor of AfterElton, says people who give Cawley and his crew a hard time over the gay elements really aren't thinking about what Star Trek has been over the decades.

"If you think your 4-year-old, 8-year-old or whatever-old is old enough to watch a crewman be graphically devoured by bloodworms [in 'Blood and Fire'] or to ogle Jeri Ryan's ginormous bazooms [in 'Star Trek: Voyager'], then they are old enough to know that sometimes men fall in love with men, and that they even kiss," Jensen said in a post on AfterElton. "It just cracks me up to read these guys going on about how hard it was to sit through the 3-1/2 minute 'gay' scene and how blatant the sexuality was. Yeah, because Star Trek has always been so subtle about male heterosexuality."

Gerrold wrote the original "Blood and Fire" after "Next Generation" creator Gene Roddenberry told gay fans before the 1987 launch of that series that he would be open to having gay characters on the show. While Gerrold maintains Roddenberry supported the episode through the entire process, he says it was actually Paramount Television who killed the idea, worried that the syndicated show could lose some of its prime time slots on networks in conservative areas in the 1980s.

Gerrold later told the story through a book in his Star Wolf series, and was approached last year by Cawley about adapting it to the popular fan series.

The episode is available for free download at StarTrekNewVoyages.com.

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