Return to Deep Space Nine main page Trivia (click here): In season one, How many times was Jadzia Dax a mother? Help rescue Captain Sisko from slavery! (click here) TV-Commentary - Deep Space Nine Is Dax bisexual or transexual? Deep Space Nine is the first Star Trek series to have an openly bisexual character.... almost. Jadzia Dax is a combination of two characters: a young woman, Jadzia, and the long-lived wormlike creature, Dax, that inhabits her body. But in fact Dax has been in many bodies, both men and women, and has slept with many men and women over the course of its life. The show puts a fig leaf over this by implying that the worm only slept with women in a man's body, and vice-versa, but there's no denying that the worm has done a large number of men and women over its lifetime. In other words, the worm is bisexual. And since we can't see the worm but we can see the actress whose body it inhabits, any bisexual urges the worm has can, with a nod and a wink, be attributed to the worm, but at its most basic point what we're seeing is a fig leaf for Jadzia's character to be a bisexual. No where do we see a better example of this than in the episode "Rejoined". Dax gets a visit from a female named Lenara who carries a worm he used to be married to when he was in a man's body. Trill society disapproves of people linking up from spouses from previous lives, and imposes serious sanctions if such joinings occur. Such disapproval and sanctions are meant to mirror societies sanctions against gays expressing affection in public. We are told that it is technically against Trill law for Dax to date her former wife because she is a former wife; but the real problem is not that the woman is former, but that she was in fact a wife. In other words, it is society's disapproval of women on women combinations that this episode is commenting on. Dax does some hot kissing with her former wife, and asks Lenara to stay with her, oblivious to the sanction or sanctions of society. But Lenara, unwilling to face the societal pressures that will come from her defiance of Trill law, leaves Dax out in the cold. This episode clearly says that society is forcing many lesbians and gay couples to stay in the closet, forcing them to unhappily live a lie. And since Dax works for the military, this analogy can easily be extended to gays in the military, even more clearly than it did with Tasha in 'The Naked Now". Like officers in the US military, Dax can have her orientation but cannot tell reveal it to anyone for fear of losing her job. For Lenara, who works for the Trill government, the sanctions would be even more severe: she (and Dax) would lose the right to have additional hosts for their worm-beings when their bodies grew old. In other words, just as gays in the US encounter discrimination in jobs and housing, Dax and Lenara would lose the right to acquire new housing (hosts) for their respective worms. In showing the tragedy of unconsumated love, the show is saying that our society should be more tolerant of gays and gay rights. In fact, it's not a stretch to say that the episode even endorses the concept of gay marriage. Consider that if they did get married they would not have the benefit of additional hosts when their bodies grew old. This is akin to gay marriages not being recognized in the US, of married gay couples not able to enjoy the same spousal benefits of marriage that heterosexual couples do. Star Trek is clearly advocating that gay couples have the same rights and benefits that heterosexual couples do.     As a final footnote, perhaps Dax's later flirtation with Worf can be seen as a way of burnishing her heterosexual credentials and putting the bedroom authorities at ease. Click here to post a message Click here to post a message Other Recent Deep Space Nine Discussions Why would Sisco volunteer to be locked in a box? PARODY: The search for Odo's nose, Part I PARODY: The Search for Odo's Nose, Part II PARODY: The Search for Odo's Nose, Part III Is Dax bisexual or transexual? The Jem Hadar as narco-terrorists? Are Ferengi against prenuptual agreements? Which character is most gay--Garak, Kira, Dax, or Bashir? What should a DS9 Movie look like? 12/1/2007 12:52:50 AM Should Avery Brooks have been replaced? 12/1/2007 12:25:20 AM The very best episodes of Deep Space Nine 10/30/2006 12:25:22 AM What could Odo possibly do with Major Kira in bed? 8/23/2005 9:26:11 PM Miles O'Brien: Barefoot and Chained to the Replicator 6/9/2005 6:20:49 AM The very worst episodes of Deep Space Nine 6/5/2005 9:08:02 AM Who could possibly want to have a worm inside them? 3/3/2005 4:49:25 AM Note: the views expressed here are only those of the posters.

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