The show’s use of the ‘bury your gays’ trope is so disappointing. It was so noticeable on first viewing, I remember thinking “why the hell are they killing them off?”

Ok, so you said something that really got me thinking:

And Adira doesn’t get the dignity of even existing without having to declare themselves and struggling to fit in as well.

Yeah, thank you for saying this. I hadn’t thought about this before, but Adira not even existing is crazy ironic because queer folks everywhere right now are fighting just to exist…not just as a byproduct that accompanies coming out in the modern era (having to explain your identity can be exhausting), but in the context of severe oppression where it’s a crime to be queer or where laws are being changed to restrict queer rights. Take your pick of which state, or country, for that matter…queer erasure is happening in a lot of places.

I wish I had enough faith in the writing team to believe this was intentional and meant to be an allegory, but nah. They were just tone deaf.

They’re regarded as objects of pity, cudgels for plot points, set pieces, and fucking ghosts, but never with the dignity and respect that any other crew member receives, and that’s just fucked up.

Thank you for saying this too. FFS, can’t we just have a gay character on screen without constantly having to O’Brien the poor dude? It is fucked up, it’s today’s version of making all your female characters victims of rape (poor Deana, how many times was she violated?). So incredibly fucked up