Star Trek: Discovery star Wilson Cruz slams homophobic viewers after backlash over gay relationship

Star Trek: Discovery

finally introduced its long-awaited gay couple in the fifth episode. but it’s faced some backlash.

Lieutenant Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Dr. Culber (Wilson Cruz) appeared in earlier episodes, but the pair finally made their on-screen debut as a couple in a sweet scene featuring them wearing matching Star Fleet pyjamas while brushing their teeth.

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had always wanted to include gay characters in the show, and while news that the show would finally feature a gay couple was mostly well received, it also faced backlash.

Wilson Cruz, however, didn’t have time for homophobic viewers and took to Facebook on Tuesday (October 17) to write a scathing Facebook post against them, saying he’s “focusing on the love.”

“I’m not here for your comfort. That’s not why we are here. We’re here to grow. Star Trek is and has always been here to challenge you to look outside of yourself and to see other people and other experiences in yourself. There is no division between you and me. I am just another human giving and receiving love, just like you. That is all.”

“You can turn your TV off, sure, but you’ll only be cheating yourself. LGBTQ people aren’t going to just disappear because you put your head in the sand. We share the planet with you. We have always been here. We will always be here. You just don’t see us. I’m happy to tell you we won’t be invisible anymore. Not for your comfort.

Cruz then said that love between two same-sex people is “nothing to hide,” before urging homophobes to accept the LGBT community and celebrate differences.

“We are living and loving out loud the way our creator intended us to because LOVE is nothing to hide. If my love offends you then you should take a look at that. Love is never wrong. It is the answer. We need MORE of it along with more curiosity and wonder at the diversity within our very own species.

“That’s no accident. We were all made differently for a reason. How much easier would it be if we were all the same? Perhaps, we aren’t exactly the same so we could do the great work of seeing, appreciating and LOVING those beautiful and quirky differences that make us human. Willful ignorance has only brought us pain and anger and death. I know that’s not what you want.”

“I humbly suggest you learn the lesson. Star Trek could be a great start. It’s been my experience that if you don’t learn it, the universe, in the end, will find a more personal way to teach it to you. That’s harder. So, learn it with us and open your mind and heart.

“It’s easier that way,” he added.

Earlier this week, Peter LaBarbera, the founder of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality, claimed the show should include more characters who have ‘cured’ themselves of homosexuality “for balance”.

Speaking on VCY America radio station, LaBarbera said: “The homosexual activists are never satisfied, they always want more, more, more. We have yet to see an ex-gay, a former homosexual prominently portrayed in Hollywood.”

Cruz, whose first role was as Rickie Vasquez in My So-Called Life, is a huge advocate for LGBT rights, along with his onscreen partner Anthony Rapp.

Star Trek: Discovery continues on Netflix on Mondays.

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