The “Star Trek” couples who rejected the cultural divide to be together

Key conclusions

  • Star Trek promotes endless diversity through cross-species romance.
  • Gene Roddenberry used the franchise to comment on cultural issues.
  • Star Trek couples show that love conquers all, no matter the odds.



From the very beginning, the goal of a Star Trek was to show people that the future could be a better place if everyone embraced Vulcan's philosophy: “Infinite variety in infinite combinations.” Philosophy is very important for Star Trekthat the words that express it have become a mantra for the franchise and everything it stands for. One of the many ways the franchise has expressed this endless diversity in endless combinations is through interspecies romances. Many relationships throughout the series began and flourished across cultural differences and across lines of conflict.

Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek creator, often stated that he used science fiction as a way to comment on 1960s culture in a way that traditional dramas could not due to government censorship. So it makes sense that many of the relationships he portrayed on screen involved different kinds. They began as a thinly veiled allegory of interracial relationships, showing creatures falling in love despite their cultural differences or the conflicts between their societies. This theme continued in the Trek shows created after his death.


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In the last episode Star Trek: The Lower DecksThe Gods and Angles, an interspecies love story literally ended a generational war between two photon species, Cubes and Spheres. Although Star Trek Lovers of interspecies and crossover conflicts did not always end wars, they showed tracks that love really does conquer all. Here are some Star Trek couples who rejected cultural divisions and crossed lines of conflict to be together.


T'Pol and Tripp

Enterprise

Star Trek Enterprise t'pol

Although Star Trek: Enterprise aired decades later Star Trek: The Original Seriesit depicts the events of the first human mission in deep space, nearly a century before Captain Kirk's five-year mission. The Trucks had seen many interspecies romances before Sub-Commander T'Pol and Commander Charles “Trip” Tucker got together. However, they were the world's first major human-alien pairing Star Trek timeline.


In the 2100s, when Enterprise happens, humans and vulcans were allies, but not friends. The Vulcans tightly controlled human space exploration and looked down on humans as an inferior species. Although Vulcans are known for their flat affects, even their tight control over their emotions cannot hide their contempt for humans. And people didn't like Vulcans either. They saw them as oppressive overseers, delaying their progress through the galaxy.

In the midst of all this interspecies fighting, Sub-Commander T'Pol was assigned to work on the Enterprise NX-01, where Commander Tucker was the Chief Engineer. Although they did not like each other at first, they served together and risked their lives together. When they did, they followed the classic enemies-to-lovers arc right into each other's bed.


Their novel explored the serious challenges faced by couples whose cultures are very different from each other. This story is all too familiar to people who have fallen in love with someone from a distant country or a religion very different from their own. T'Pol had to face the scorn of her parents when she refused an arranged marriage, and Trip had to endure the merciless judgment of the Vulcans, who saw him as a second-class citizen.

Despite all this, their love grew and flourished. However, it ended in tragedy after the loss of their genetically engineered child. They never got a chance to recover it, as Tripp sacrificed himself to save the Enterprise NX-01 crew.

Sarek and Amanda

The original series; Opening

Mark Leonard as Sarek. Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

About half a century after T'Pol and Tripp's romance, the most famous romance between a volcano and a human began. Sarek met Amanda Grayson while serving as a Vulcan ambassador to Earth. The two fell in love and married while Sarek was on Earth, but soon after they returned to Vulcan. Although they loved each other deeply, Sarek's expression of that love was limited by his Vulcan devotion to logic.


Being human on Vulcan was difficult for Amanda. She had to learn to hide her emotions and be content with the subtle displays of love that Sarek could give her. Amanda also faced constant criticism from the Vulcans, who despised her humanity and thought she was a bad fit for Sarek, especially since he held such a high status on his home planet. Having a human wife was also difficult for Sarek. He faced constant condemnation for choosing a human wife and was often ridiculed for being “too human”, a serious insult in Vulcan society.

Although the disapproval of their marriage often put a strain on their relationship, Sarek and Amanda's enduring love kept them together through it all. They raised two children together – their biological child Spock and adopted child Michael Burnham.

Rom and Lita

Deep space nine

Rom and Lyta in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine


Rom, a Ferengi who lived in Deep Space Nine, grew up with his brother on Ferenginar, where women were considered nothing more than the property of their husbands. Respectable Ferengi women never wore clothes, served their partners and children to the point of even chewing their food for them, and were legally forbidden from owning their own property.

Lyta, the Bajoran woman who worked as Dabo's girlfriend on Deep Space Nine, was the epitome of independence. She worked to take care of herself, dated whoever she wanted, and never took orders from anyone but her boss, Rom Quark's brother. And even those orders she accepted reluctantly.

Their unlikely romance blossomed when Rom, who also worked for his brother, decided to form an alliance and Lita joined. She waited months for Rom to ask her out, but he didn't get up the courage until she almost left Deep Space Nine.


When he asked her out, their passion grew exponentially, but they soon found it difficult to cope with their cultural differences. Although Rom wasn't as committed to Ferengi culture as most of his kin, he still expected Lyta to behave like a proper, submissive Ferengi woman. When she refused, Rom had to decide if he loved her enough to give up his cultural expectations.

Fortunately, he made the right decision. Rom and Lyta were married on Deep Space Nine during the Domino War, and their love for each other saw them through the wartime separation. After the war, Rom was appointed Grand Nagus, and he and Lyta moved to Ferenginar. Lyta helped implement feminist reforms on Ferenginar and eventually co-ruled with Rom.

Benjamin Cisco and Cassidy Yates

Deep space nine

Star Trek ds9 Cassidy Yates Captain Sisko


Although Captain Benjamin Sisko and Cassidy Yates did not have to face the obstacles of interspecies love, their love had to withstand both different political and religious beliefs. Shortly after they began dating, Captain Sisko found out that Cassidy was smuggling for a Maquis resistance cell that opposed Starfleet. Although he grew to love Cassidy, Cisco was forced to turn her in and she ended up in prison.

While this would have ended most relationships, Sisko and Cassidy rekindled their relationship once she got out of prison. They both decided that mutual betrayals were not enough to stop their love and ended up getting married.

However, their relationship soon faced another major obstacle. Sisko, who was an emissary of the Bajoran Prophets, decided that it was his destiny to join the Prophets in the wormhole leading to the Gamma Quadrant. He promised Cassidy that he would return to help her raise their unborn child, and Cassidy promised to wait for him. When they left each other, it seemed that their love would withstand another unfathomable challenge. But fans will never know for sure, as Sisko's story ended there.


These pairs showed Star Trek loving fans can spark, catch and keep burning through all kinds of trials and in spite of all kinds of differences. And that's one of the many reasons why the franchise means so much to its fans and the world at large.

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