Dragon*Con panel discusses dearth of gays in ‘Star Trek’

Some of the biggest names of the biggest sci-fi franchises are coming to Dragon*Con for Labor Day weekend, bringing 35,000 of their closest friends.

For the first time in Con history the actors who portrayed “Star Trek” icons Kirk, Spock, Picard and over a dozen of their crew members will appear at Dragon*Con. The largest science-fiction and fantasy convention in the South, it offers more than 3,500 hours of programming from Friday to Monday.

“This is the first time William Shatner has ever been to Dragon*Con,” says Eric Watts, director of Dragon*Con’s TrekTrak program that features “Star Trek” actors, writers, directors and the Miss Klingon Beauty Pageant.

Watts is the only openly gay program director at Dragon*Con, and has taken it upon himself to provide gay-themed programming.

“There is an extremely large GLBT community there, and I think there actually should be a track of programming here,” Watts said. “There isn’t one, so I’ve created some GLBT events in my track.”

At 4 p.m. Friday, Watts will host “The Missing Minority,” a panel discussion about the lack of gays in the “Star Trek” universe with gay writers Steve Berman and Carlos Pedraza; lesbian radio personality Melissa Carter; and Alan Siler, one of the organizers of OutLantaCon, a convention in Atlanta that caters to gay fans.

“The missing minority is something that I have included in my panels for all my years at Dragon*Con,” Watts said. “The panel in the broadest sense is discussing why there might not be gay characters on ‘Star Trek’ or who might be gay. This year we are going to talk about why there aren’t any gay characters in J.J. Abrams’ new vision of the franchise.”

OutLantaCon will also host the annual Rainbow Flag Party, starting at 10 p.m. on Saturday night.

Unlike last year when George Takei attended, there are no big name gay stars at this convention. Alessandro Juliani, who played the first openly gay man in American sci-fi on “Battlestar Galactica” earlier this year, will attend.

http://www.sovo.com/2009/9-4/arts/events/10581.cfm