In my opinion, science fiction/fantasy is at its best when it offers an insight into the human condition. For Star Trek, this is no different as many of my favorite episodes and movies embody this to their core...by focusing on the characters and the aspects that made me as a viewer interested in their stories/arcs. This especially holds true when episodes focused more heavily on societal topics of interest. Next Generation's Season 5 episode "The Outcast" definitely aims to fit that mold, touching on the subject of LGBT relations. However, while the episode holds moments of note given the subject, it also presents the parameters of its premise in ways which detract from being truly memorable.
A significant part of this comes from the setting focus itself. Much of the interaction regarding the conflict concerning the character of Soren and their/her attraction to First Officer Will Riker takes place among the crew of the Enterprise-D rather than the J'naii, the species of non-gender expressive individuals which the episode focuses on (which is a..weird choice considering that a species that has moved beyond focusing on gender shouldn't care about such categories, but maybe I'm missing something here). As a result, we are given more attention to what crew members like Riker and Beverly have to say about gender relations rather than the J'naii themselves. Cue the traditional comments of women being "pretty, looking for protection" while men are looking for "strong or demur woman"...which provides the image of a Federation that doesn't consider the presence of LGBT individuals among their ranks. Such a thing is truly off-putting given where the episode is clearly aiming to go with its allegory. Such a thing might have been helped more with a focus directed on the J'naii, offering more of a critique of their discriminatory view of gender expression (again, a strange set-up given what I stated previously). That was more effectively put forth in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" in the Original Series of Star Trek, which focused on the subject of racial discrimination, and put more of a focus on the characters of Lokai and Bele and their intolerance for each other's differences as a center. As a result, when the time for the scene of moral attention arrives, put forth through a speech by Soren at their/her trial, it comes across more as an attempt rather than an embrace of its logic....which shouldn't be the case if a show decides to go with a more preachy, heavy-handed approach like this (which is opposite of the more subtle approach, like DS9's "Rejoined", which works out much better as a result) It doesn't help that the J'naii are overall soulless in their appearance or dictations, which compounds any measure of connecting to how they operate as a culture....to say nothing of how the ending makes no sense, as no longer identifying as female due to "re-education" by the J'naii doesn't mean Soren couldn't still love Riker (and of course the touchy subject of "conversion therapy"). Yet another aspect that works against the allegory of the episode.
I could get into other issues, such as the mischaracterization of Worf or how Soren is cast (I see no reason why they couldn't have just presented her as still genderless, yet falling for Riker...which could have allowed for more of a focus on the J'naii's ideas concerning gender expression), but I feel such a focus would be at risk of becoming nitpicky. For its flaws, the fact that Riker is cast as the crew member involved was a true boon...not just for the attempt of broadening the stakes of the episode, but also what it meant for me as a bisexual man. For someone like Riker, an individual that was portrayed on the show typically as a ladies man and a man of men, to be willing to enter into a relationship with an individual of a genderless culture and be willing to stake his entire career over it was truly impactful...not just by showing another dimension of Riker's character that the show didn't further explore (the typical result of single episodes) but also for how impressionable it was to a young man who had heard many cultural stereotypes over how LGBT men were not truly such. I definitely give the show's development team credit for embracing such a set-up, even if the focus of the episode diminished it...especially with the relationship between Riker and Soren itself lacking in chemistry.
Overall, I give "Outcast" credit due to it being a part of Star Trek working to embrace a prosperous future that embraces peaceful differences of expression. If only it did that more clearly.
A significant part of this comes from the setting focus itself. Much of the interaction regarding the conflict concerning the character of Soren and their/her attraction to First Officer Will Riker takes place among the crew of the Enterprise-D rather than the J'naii, the species of non-gender expressive individuals which the episode focuses on (which is a..weird choice considering that a species that has moved beyond focusing on gender shouldn't care about such categories, but maybe I'm missing something here). As a result, we are given more attention to what crew members like Riker and Beverly have to say about gender relations rather than the J'naii themselves. Cue the traditional comments of women being "pretty, looking for protection" while men are looking for "strong or demur woman"...which provides the image of a Federation that doesn't consider the presence of LGBT individuals among their ranks. Such a thing is truly off-putting given where the episode is clearly aiming to go with its allegory. Such a thing might have been helped more with a focus directed on the J'naii, offering more of a critique of their discriminatory view of gender expression (again, a strange set-up given what I stated previously). That was more effectively put forth in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" in the Original Series of Star Trek, which focused on the subject of racial discrimination, and put more of a focus on the characters of Lokai and Bele and their intolerance for each other's differences as a center. As a result, when the time for the scene of moral attention arrives, put forth through a speech by Soren at their/her trial, it comes across more as an attempt rather than an embrace of its logic....which shouldn't be the case if a show decides to go with a more preachy, heavy-handed approach like this (which is opposite of the more subtle approach, like DS9's "Rejoined", which works out much better as a result) It doesn't help that the J'naii are overall soulless in their appearance or dictations, which compounds any measure of connecting to how they operate as a culture....to say nothing of how the ending makes no sense, as no longer identifying as female due to "re-education" by the J'naii doesn't mean Soren couldn't still love Riker (and of course the touchy subject of "conversion therapy"). Yet another aspect that works against the allegory of the episode.
I could get into other issues, such as the mischaracterization of Worf or how Soren is cast (I see no reason why they couldn't have just presented her as still genderless, yet falling for Riker...which could have allowed for more of a focus on the J'naii's ideas concerning gender expression), but I feel such a focus would be at risk of becoming nitpicky. For its flaws, the fact that Riker is cast as the crew member involved was a true boon...not just for the attempt of broadening the stakes of the episode, but also what it meant for me as a bisexual man. For someone like Riker, an individual that was portrayed on the show typically as a ladies man and a man of men, to be willing to enter into a relationship with an individual of a genderless culture and be willing to stake his entire career over it was truly impactful...not just by showing another dimension of Riker's character that the show didn't further explore (the typical result of single episodes) but also for how impressionable it was to a young man who had heard many cultural stereotypes over how LGBT men were not truly such. I definitely give the show's development team credit for embracing such a set-up, even if the focus of the episode diminished it...especially with the relationship between Riker and Soren itself lacking in chemistry.
Overall, I give "Outcast" credit due to it being a part of Star Trek working to embrace a prosperous future that embraces peaceful differences of expression. If only it did that more clearly.