Horatio, we've talked about this before, and I'm just bringing up the Iowa thing to contrast it with our favorite series.... Not only is Trek NOT ahead of it's time on this issue, it's not even up to par with other science fiction series recently, or currently in production. Farscape, Firefly, Torchwood, Doctor Who, the recently concluded Battlestar Galactica... all of them had gay and lesbian characters out in front, not nebulously "offstage" somewhere.
Trek is falling down on one of it's most basic premises: that it tries to portray a better future where everyone is respected and valued. Well, it seems to me that GLBT folks have been, and are still being, given the ol' airlock treatment by the producers.
