Star Trek, the creative vision of Gene Roddenberry, crafted a spellbinding franchise of entertainment and exploration woven through with a universal theme of tolerance and diversity. For in that landmark television and movie phenomenon, every individual of every race, religion, and gender is considered an equal. However, there is one glaring exception: Star Trek has yet to include a single gay character or storyline.

Some fans, tired of waiting, have taken matters into their own hands by making a Star Trek series all their own.

Star Trek: Hidden Frontier, an unofficial fan series produced by Rob Caves, has boldly gone where no Star Trek producer, director, or studio executive has gone before. Premiering in 2000, this low-budget fan production kept true to Roddenberry's utopian vision of the future. However, it also dealt with the complex romantic triangle between three of its prominent characters, all of which are male.

“Knowing that gay characters were something Star Trek had always skirted around was surprising to me,” Rob Caves told AfterElton about his reactions to the franchise's lack of homosexual characters. “Star Trek was about pushing social issues into a science fiction context, and not shying away from uncomfortable topics.

Race struggles, morality issues, euthanasia, etc. It was an important decision for me to address something that was personal to me. It was also at a time when gay people were often portrayed in stereotypes. I wanted to show a future where gay was not an issue anymore.”

The show, produced in Southern California by a group of unpaid volunteers, takes places aboard the U.S.S. Excelsior. Set in the Briar Patch, a chaotic area of space introduced in the ninth Star Trek movie, Insurrection, the Excelsior encounters many of the franchises noteworthy species, such as the Cardassians, Tholians, and Breen. Without elaborate sets, the crew of volunteers must shoot the entire series on blue screen backdrops, which makes the final product a bit choppy. The show's fantastic CGI's (computer graphics imagery), though, greatly makes up for it.

The openly gay Caves stated the reasons for creating a gay storyline on the internet-based fan series was more than just to address an issue. For him it was also a journey of acceptance with his own conflicted sexuality. “I was just finishing college (film school) when Hidden Frontier was starting,” he says. “And, it was at that time that I was coming to terms with my own sexuality.”

While the show was in its freshman season, he joined just after graduating from Loyola Marymount University. The show's first gay storyline began during its sophomore run.

Many dedicated followers of this unofficial Star Trek incarnation have voiced similar experiences. Caves goes on to say, “The GLBT community has been very supportive of it, and we've even had people write and say that our show helped them come out. Every time we've done an episode with a gay theme I think we've gained new fans from the GLBT community. [It's] my hope, that the people that do continue to watch the show, will shape their thinking around the idea that these characters are just people. People in and out of relationships. Not gay, not straight, just people.”

But not everyone loves the show's greater inclusiveness. “The response to our gay characters has been very mixed,” Caves admits. “[We] get plenty of mail against the gay characters as well. Often times, religion is cited by the people who don't like it. I think others see it as a sort of us-vs-them mentality. That we're a threat to values and at worst, we're somehow corrupting Star Trek fans. Sometimes we're criticized for having too many gay relationships, or too many episodes that have a gay theme.”

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