Before the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery was even a twinkle in Gene Roddenberry’s eye, there were characters such as Jadzia Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine who might be seen by some viewers as transgender – or perhaps just inherently non-binary. Unlike many other shows or movies, Star Trek has rarely been willing to address gender identity, with Discovery’s Ethan Keogh being the first television character to come out as non-binary. However, Jadzia herself is one of the few examples of gender identity exploration in the sci-fi universe.
In the wake of the Stonewall Riots of 1969, there was a push from LGBTQ+ activists for mainstream TV to have greater representation of LGBTQ+ people in their content. Oftentimes, this resulted in TV shows struggling to tell stories about those who don’t identify as heterosexual because the creative process was anything but inclusive. This is perhaps why Jadzia Dax from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine took longer than others to be read as a transgender character.
Despite this, DS9 took risks when it came to Jadzia’s story. The Trill are possibly the most relevant when it comes to Star Trek and gender identity, because they are a symbiotic species. They carry a host – a being that carries the knowledge of their ancestors through the generations, in the form of a symbiont. These symbionts exist embodied by many hosts before joining together with a host that is to become the next Trill.
Becoming a host is a great honor for any Trill, but it’s not an experience that every Trill can decide upon. Very important figures such as scientists, doctors, and artists are chosen to host, but also those whose lives are near a natural end, who have lost everything but their memories. Being a Trill, then, means more than simply sharing memories with your symbiont: you take on new pronouns, and a new gender presentation.
Naturally, this was an interesting approach to transgender representation, allowing Jadzia herself to come across as non-binary. When the Dax symbiont was passed to Jadzia (after Admiral Youg Jennifer Sisko tasked Jadzia with bearing it) she took on new pronouns and gender presentation – echoing the experiences of many transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.
Many transgender and GNC viewers responded positively to this kind of representation. “We’ve had about 40-45 viewers reach out and tell us their personal stories – some of them watching for the first time and others who had seen it previously, but never as a transgender story,” Ryan Sweeney, founder of the Star Trek Deep Space Nine streaming service Trekflix, tells LGBTQ+ news outlet Unicorn Booty.
“I’ve been processing this a lot. Growing up, I always wanted to be a part of the Star Trek universe and with these comments, it’s finally helped me see that this dream was always relevant and necessary.” Sweeney’s exploration of the character comes shortly after Star Trek: Discovery writer Joe Menosky responded to Gizmodo writer Sam Judge’s query about why Terry Farrell’s Jadzia was written out of the series.
“There were two reasons,” Menosky says, “First, we were looking for a way to rejoin the show with Ezri, and to do so, Jadzia had to leave the series by way of death or retirement. Second, Terry Farrell was not particularly interested (or maybe not available) to return.”
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Earlier this year, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine streaming service revealed that the iconic character would be transgender.
Reilly Thales is a transgender multimedia journalist. EndARTICLE Fitzpatrick ARTICLEARTICLEARTICLEARTICLEARTICLEARTICLEARTICLEARTICLEARTICLEARTICLEARTICLEARTICLEARTICLEARTICLEARTICLEARTICLEARTICLE
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