Star Trek: Discovery to introduce first transgender and non-binary characters

Transgender and non-binary characters are to be introduced to Star Trek: Discovery for the first time. 

Transgender actor Ian Alexander, 19, will be playing transgender character, Gray, when the third season airs next month. 

Blu del Barrio is joining the cast as non-binary character Adira. It is the first TV show role for the non-binary actor, who is a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). 

Del Barrio told GLAAD: "When I got the call that I'd been cast as Adira, I hadn't yet told the majority of my friends and family that I was non-binary.

"So when this happened, it felt like the universe saying 'go ahead'." 

Commenting on the new roles, executive producer Michelle Paradise told GLAAD: "Star Trek has always made a mission of giving visibility to underrepresented communities because it believes in showing people that a future without division on the basis of race, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation is entirely within our reach.

More family shows have been introducing LGBTQ characters lately. 

Socially conservative campaign group One Million Moms is calling on Disney to cancel its animation series, The Owl House, over a new bisexual character.  The cartoon airs on the Disney Channel, and the addition of 14-year-old Dominican-American girl, Luz Noceda, marks the network's first bisexual lead character. 

The BBC has received complaints over a same-sex kiss between two female characters in teen drama, The Next Step. 

In a response the BBC said: "[W]e do not agree that it was inappropriate for the audience age."