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GAAAYS IN SPAAACE BOLDLY GOING…WITH DAN DEEVY
When the original Star Trek television series debuted in 1966, it invited viewers “To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” Though there was a spectrum of humanity on board the Starship Enterprise, in terms of LGBTQ representation, there was none for audiences to relate to. Even on further TV exploits, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise as well as 12 big screen adaptations, we of the LGBTQ persuasion were nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t until 2016’s Star Trek Beyondfilm and the latest television incarna- tion, Star Trek: Discovery that we were given any sort of screen time. This pre-2016 dilemma, inspired Dan Deevy
to helm a documentary about the lack of LGBTQ characters being a part of Star Trek’s collective future. The aforementioned inclusions however, set him on a different course and saw him create, Gaaays in Spaaace, “A multi-city, cross country, futuristic equality celebration tour.” So, set your phasers to fabulous asGaaays in Spaaacemakes its way to Los Angeles. The Rage Monthly chatted with Deevy about all-
things Star Trek and theGaaays in Spaaacegenesis. “I was trying to figure out in my documentary
why there were no gay people onscreen. Then all of a sudden Star Trek Beyond happened, Sulu ended
up gay and it made no sense,” Deevy offered. “They took a monumental step forward—even though it was a split second onscreen—it changed every- thing. Prior to that we were the only minority group who didn’t make it into the future, the only people who couldn’t see ourselves reflected there and now we could,” Deevy said. “I was super excited about that and then really shocked that nobody else seemed to be.” Deevy decided to create a party around the milestone, “I was going to Creation Entertainment’s AnnualStar TrekConvention in Vegas that year, so I figured while I’m there I’ll throw a party and see if anyone else is as happy about this as I am,” he explained. “Fortunately, I was able to email Nana Visitor (Major Kira Nerys fromDeep Space Nine) to ask her if she would come and she agreed. I’m thinking that maybe 10 people will show up…I get there and the place is packed! It was a great time and it wasn’t just LGBTQ community members. There were plenty of straightStar Trekfans who came too and all I heard from people was, ‘When’s the next one?’” Warp forward to 2018 and Gaaays in Spaaace, described by Deevy as a “non-profit group akin to a mix and mingle after work event,” has hosted 12 in just over a year’s time. “It just seems to keep getting bigger and better, with over 1,000 people in attendance throughout the course and a dozen celebrities who come out and support us.” As for how the franchise has handled the
by tim parks
introduction of Sulu (John Cho), Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and his partner Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) as gay characters, Deevy had this to say; “They knew there would have to be gay representation. We’ve waited a really long time, so it is a big deal and they have certainly made up for that with Discovery. I was completely blown away by the show, not only did they give us a gay character, they gave us two complex and interesting characters.” Deevy continued, “It’s great that they did it first with Star Trek Beyond, but that was a moment out of time. I love the fact that today it is a non-issue,” Deevy is hopeful that Gaaays in Spaaace may
have a place at San Diego Comic-Con, especially considering they’ll be at Anaheim WonderCon on Saturday, March 24. In the meantime, he looks forward to where the event can boldly take fans, “The first year was figuring out what we were about, making mistakes and learning from them. We’ve grown in the sense that when we put on an event, we know first and foremost exactly why we’re doing it, what it’s about, how it’s going to happen and why it’s important.”
Gaaays in Spaaace takes place onThursday, February 8, Tuesday, February 27, Wednesday, March 21 andWednes- day, March 28at The 3 Clubs Cocktail Lounge, located at 1123 Vine Street in Los Angeles. For tickets and more information, go
togaaaysinspaaace.org.
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RAGE monthly | FEBRUARY 2018 RAGE monthly
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