The Universe of Evil Bisexuals, Revisited
If you’ve watched Star Trek, DS9 to be specific, you’re probably aware of the meme that everyone (or at least all the women) in the Mirror Universe are depraved bisexuals. Is the “evil” Mirror Universe more openly Queer than the “normal” universe? Yes, and is this problematic? Again yes, but after re-re-rewatching the series, I was surprised to find it’s really not as prevalent as I remembered (or as the memes imply).
The worst offender by far is Intendant Kira, but per Nana Visitor, the Intendant’s attraction to normal Kira is a manifestation of her extreme narcissism. Unfortunately, the writers combined this with her unchecked hedonism, and she became a pleasure-seeker content to hop in the sack with anyone particularly attractive (which on DS9 is basically everyone 🥵).
Apart from Intendant Kira, however, we don’t really see any other mirror characters exhibiting same-sex attraction until the final MU episode of DS9, “The Emperor’s New Cloak.” This time it’s Mirror!Ezri in a sapphic relationship with the Intendant, but to be honest, she might just be a lesbian. (In fact, I’m pretty sure this is the case, as Mirror!Brunt implies she has no interest in men.) She’s also not overtly evil, and is relatively moral by MU standards, helping the heroes in the end because it’s the right thing to do and not for any personal gain. Only at the very end of the episode do we see the third and final sapphic MU character, Mirror!Leeta; she’s pretty strongly implied to be attracted to Ezri, but for all we know, Ezri might just be the first Trill she’s ever seen in person and she’s excited to find out how far down her spots go.
Even if “The Emperor’s New Cloak” were never made, DS9 would still be catching crap for making evil!Kira Queer (and perhaps rightly so), but she'd be the only the only notable example. Mirror!Jennifer is just as straight as her normal universe counterpart, and Mirror!Jadzia is actually more straight than normal Jadzia. On that note...
It’s not exactly heteronormative in the “normal” universe. In fact, it’s about as Queer as the writers’ room could get away with at the time. When the showrunners told Siddig and Robinson to stop making Bashir and Garak so gay, they said “no” and proceeded to be even gayer. Jadzia is a “hearts, not parts” pansexual, and Odo has linked (i.e. Changeling sex) with multiple Changelings regardless of gender presentation. And that’s to say nothing of the Bashir/O’Brien bromance or Keiko chasing a Queer-platonic polycule with the O’Briens’ baby-mama Kira.
Hell, the very next episode after “The Emperor’s New Cloak,” “Field of Fire,” casually mentions that Petty Officer Brott had “a wife and a co-husband,” and the episode after that, “Chimera” has Odo link up with the male-presenting Laas and talk of a “Changeling Pride Demonstration” on the promenade… because writers who use subtext are cowards.
So actually, upon further consideration, I'm not so sure the Mirror Universe was any more bi than the normal one. It's just that the women are bisexual over there instead, because... mirror.
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