Not only is Karim Diané’s character on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy a very non-traditional Klingon — you know, that violent, warrior race that was once the galaxy’s biggest baddies — but Cadet Jay-Den Kraag wants to be a doctor, wears a skirt, and has a boyfriend.
“I got to introduce the world to Star Trek’s first openly gay Klingon, which is a sentence my younger self would have assumed I made up,” Diané says. The 24-year-old native of Washington, D.C., was stunned at the backlash over Jay-Den’s sexuality.
“Heated Rivalry is like the biggest show on the planet, right?” Diané said. "So, I thought they were like, ‘Okay, whatever. It’s not a big deal.’ I was wrong. It is a very big deal.”
His previous credits include One of Us Is Lying and StartUp. In May, he was honored alongside his Star Trek co-stars at the Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television.
Upon learning he was selected for the Out100, the NYC-based Congolese-Guinean actor offered this message for the world: “The goal was never to fit in. Have you seen what everyone else is doing?!” @team_karim
