KM: No. This is inherent in the concept of Star Trek that Gene Roddenberry had conceived. Though I'm sure--Gene Roddenberry was quite the womanizer--and I'm sure he never imaged a woman in the captain's seat. So my hats off to the brass at Paramount, they had a lot of money to lose. And they changed the course of television history with that move.

AS: But they still seem to be lagging behind in gay and lesbian portrayals. They have yet to have a regular gay and lesbian character on any of the series or films.

KM: That's right--I've been quite outspoken about that. That'll be the last thing to go, the last bridge to cross.

AS: One would think that the producers of a progressive, forward-thinking show would be more open-minded.

KM: Well, one would think that Hollywood would be more open-minded at this point, since essentially the whole town is run by the gay community. It makes very little sense if you think about it. No, Star Trek is very strangely by the book in this regard. Rick Berman, who is a very sagacious man, has been very firm about certain things. I've approached him many, many times over the years about getting a gay character on the show--one whom we could really love, not just a guest star. Y'know, we had blacks, Asians, we even had a handicapped character--and so I thought, this is now beginning to look a bit absurd. And he said, "In due time." And so, I'm suspecting that on Enterprise they will do something to this effect. I couldn't get it done on mine. And I am sorry for that.

AS: Well, God love ya for trying. I saw a documentary a while back called Trekkies, in which you talked about the amazing support you found in the Star