Discussing gay characters with the creators of SCI FI's new show, "Sanctuary"

As a pretty big science fiction fan, I was looking forward to Sunday afternoons panels for SCI FI's new shows Sanctuary and Caprica more than most of the other shows I've covered here at the Television Critics Association. (Coolio's Rules anyone?)

I was especially eager to find out if the success of Russel T. Davies gay/bisexual-inclusive show Torchwood would finally prompt American television to add a significant gay character to one of their shows. (Vincent on Eureka doesn't quite fit the bill being a secondary character that most people don't even seem to realize is gay in the first place.)

So will Sanctuary or Caprica have gay characters? Nope. But they will have episodes about exploring prejudice and will have creatures that are misunderstood, hunted, persecuted, and need protecting. Oh, my -- that doesn't sound promising. When does Torchwood come back again? (BTW, they trailer shown before the panel made this show look so much like Torchwood, I kept expecting John Barrowman to pop up and drop a couple of quick double entendres.)

Actually, my exchange with showrunner Sam Egan and executive producer/writer Damian Kindler was so interesting that I'll just let you folks read the transcript yourself and see what you think.

Sam Egan and Damian Kindler

(Photo Credit: Getty Images/Frederick M. Brown)

AfterElton.com: Scripted American sci-fi series haven't been terribly gay-inclusive, and I'm wondering if there's any chance Sanctuary will finally go where Star Trek hasn't dared to and actually include a gay character on the show?
Sam Egan: Sure. I would say we're definitely open to it.

AE: But you don't have one now.
Damian Kindler: Not that we're saying. But truthfully I don't mean to pander to it, but this show is about prejudice to a large extent, that there are creatures who are misunderstood and hunted and persecuted and Magnus' initial mission, to a large extent, is to protect those that need protecting, and there's -- I don't think you need to be so, you know, kind of on the nose and, say, "Here's a gay character." You can actually explore a lot of those themes front and center. That's what sci-fi allows you to do, explore very relevant social issues without saying, "And here comes this socially relevant issue." So I mean --

AE: I'm not asking for a socially relevant character. I'm just asking for an actual gay character on a science-fiction show. There hasn't been a whole lot of them, and frequently when I bring the subject up, I get the ... what you just said, which is very true -- about exploring these issues, but you know, [as for the] the actual gay character? You wouldn't say to an African-American or an Asian person, "Well, we use our show to explore social issues without actually including [African-American or Asian] people."
DK: Well, it's a good point. I'm unprepared for your question but definitely noted. There's no agenda one way or another. So sure.
SE: And at the risk of having this be something you've heard before, I just want to speak to Damian's point because I think it's relevant because there's a universality of themes to the show, and when we talk about the abnormal world, we talk about the human experience -- everybody feels different. Everybody feels they're not a part of the mainstream in some way or another, and it's the metaphor of xenophobia and fear of the unknown, and our discomfort with what we don't know is so embedded in the themes of the show. And I make that point simply to make the point and not to necessarily satisfy your question because I think that may not be the answer you're looking for.

AE: I appreciate that. It's just unfortunate that whenever I bring up [the issue of including] a gay character, and I appreciate your thoughtfulness about this, but everybody's reaction is [discuss] exploring how everybody feels different and et cetera and so forth. Well, one of the things is that as a gay man, I don't feel all that different. You know, I love science fiction and I'd like to see that character [and] not as part of a social issue.

What made this exchange so frustrating and disappointing is that it's 2008 and I'd really like to think we're past thinking of presenting gay folks on television as metaphors to explore feeling different and to show how tolerant the main heterosexual character is, not to mention I really am not interested in seeing myself represented as a hunted creature. Oy.

I've heard the comment that shows are "open" to gay characters yet somehow don't have them so many times I could scream. This is Hollywood. Everyone is liberal and progressive. Yet somehow when it actually comes to getting interesting gay characters on television, it just doesn't seem to happen. Well, at least unless it's on Showtime.

As for Caprica, the same question was asked in their panel which followed Sanctuary's and that show's executive producer Ronald Moore said, "Yeah, sure. I don't see any reason why we wouldn't do that. I don't think there's anybody who's identified as such in the pilot, but I see no reason why we wouldn't. " When pressed whether Caprica actually included a GLBT character Moore said there wasn't in the pilot and gave no indication that one was in the works.