If he thinks the fear of alienating a few closed-minded readers is going to stop me from writing stories that feature and promote characters of diverse backgrounds— including LGBTQ characters, persons of color, and people who belong to ideological or philosophical minorities — he must be out of his mind.

I’m a fucking Star Trek writer.

Those of us who write the licensed Trek fiction continue to do our best to depict a more progressive, enlightened, open, and harmonious future, not just for humanity but for all sentient beings.

I will never be made to feel shame for doing this. I am proud that we’ve been able to do this.

Whenever someone asks ‘why do we need to keep talking about embracing diversity in stories, and seeking out diversity in the authors and creators and portrayers of speculative fiction?’, I will say it’s because too many authors and artists and filmmakers still get letters like this one.

We need to work toward a better future in which no one would even *think* of writing an e-mail like this.