Star Trek’s History of Progressive Values — And Why It Faltered on LGBT Crew Members

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7. The philosophy that dare not speak its name in US media-

Roddenberry was an avowed secular humanist.

Billy Graham used to rail against secular humanism in the 70s and 80s, and apparently the American media are averse to naming it (like "socialism", in America its a term that is mostly reserved for use by conservatives in demonizing people).

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Speaking as a gay guy, I wasn't disappointed that TNG lacked a regular cast member; I never thought we were populous enough to warrant representation on any particular show (TV and movies in general being another matter). I was more perplexed that Worf and Geordi were obscured by heavy prosthetics... out of an aversion to black males IMHO. The Gennai episode did impress me in how forceful yet equivocal it was, and I was mostly disappointed especially in how a lot of people back then chose to interpret it as a warning against rampant feminism or androgyny.

It was soon after that I realized Hollywood Liberals had bought into ambiguity as an absolute rule when dealing with issues (or worse, using the Liberal label as a cover for making reactionary and authoritarian impressions, such as those on the show COPS). For a long time since the mid-90s, solidly progressive messages were left to cartoons (e.g. The Simpsons).