“And then with Picard making her a queer character…”
One of Star Trek's most beloved characters didn't even make her debut in the science fiction franchise until three decades after The Original Series debuted on NBC in 1966. Nonetheless, Seven of Nine's impact on the fandom is immeasurable, and actress Jeri Ryan discussed the effect her character made on the "huge LGBTQ+" audience while attending this year's Italian Global Series (IGS).
Ryan said in an interview (per The Playlist):
“There was a huge LGBTQ+ audience for Seven already. And then with Picard making her a queer character as part of canon, making her bisexual, that was a huge embrace of the community that I heard a lot of people appreciate. And Jeri Taylor, who was one of the showrunners on Voyager when I was brought on initially, that was apparently — I didn’t know this until much later — that was apparently her original idea for Seven.
Ryan, who first portrayed the character of Seven in Star Trek: Voyager’s season 4 premiere, “Scorpion, Part II” (1997), said during the same interview:
“She wanted her to be bisexual then because it’s the perfect character to have done that with. She wasn’t even human starting out. She wasn’t born. She would have had no preconceived notions of sexuality or social norms or anything. But that was a very different time, and networks were not ready for that at that point. And so, they sort of were a bit scared to do that.”
Ryan reprised the role of Seven as a part-time player in Picard season 1 (2020), but her popularity increased the Borg/human’s screen time significantly in both seasons 2 and 3 of the streaming series. And, as Ryan alluded to, Seven was romantically involved with Jean-Luc’s (Patrick Stewart) friend and colleague Raffi (Michelle Hurd).
Now, I’m incredibly excited because Seven returns this September as the lead in the new comic book series simply titled Star Trek. Yes, five years have passed since the events of Picard’s series finale, “The Last Generation,” but everyone’s favorite Borg-human hybrid is still in command of the USS Enterprise-G.
What do you think about Seven’s impact specifically on the LGBTQ+ community of fans? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Oh, and for those Raffi fans out there, she is also headlining her own comic book title, which drops later this year, titled Star Trek: Zero Point.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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