it's not for lack of trying. Gene Roddenberry believed that issues like sexuality and gender and race would not even be an issue in the future.
more than one show runner has tried to insert positive same sex relationships into the show.
Jonathan Franks tried to have an episode where Riker fell in love with a gender neutral/androgynous alien (this was to serve 2 purposes, one, it would show that it was the being he was attracted to and not the gender, and two, Frankes wanted the actor to be male so that it would allude to the idea of a same sex relationship) however, they made they cast, and made it obvious, the actress was female, defeating the purpose. (Frankes was very upset about that) though it did carry a nice message about the ethical issues of forcing someone to "choose" one gender over the other.
In Voyager, it was alluded to the idea that Seven of Nine and the captain were going to form a relationship (even Kate Mulgrew mentioned it as a possibility) before they changed it to a mother/daughter relationship.
In Enterprise, Tripp was supposed to be gay, and even in the last episode, this idea was alluded to when an off screen Riker (again played by Frankes) asks "Do you think he's attractive" while refering to Archer (it's made to look like he's talking to Tripp, when in reality he's talking to an off screen Troi)
The Next Generation movies DID manage to sneak in two or three relationships. During the Borg attack in First Contact, a character was gay (and was mentioned at having a partner at least in the novelization).
All these efforts at inclusion were changed due to executive meddling.
Wikipedia has an interesting article. Most show runners have tried. which is more than can be said for others. They do a better job in comics and the novels/
no subject
more than one show runner has tried to insert positive same sex relationships into the show.
Jonathan Franks tried to have an episode where Riker fell in love with a gender neutral/androgynous alien (this was to serve 2 purposes, one, it would show that it was the being he was attracted to and not the gender, and two, Frankes wanted the actor to be male so that it would allude to the idea of a same sex relationship) however, they made they cast, and made it obvious, the actress was female, defeating the purpose. (Frankes was very upset about that) though it did carry a nice message about the ethical issues of forcing someone to "choose" one gender over the other.
In Voyager, it was alluded to the idea that Seven of Nine and the captain were going to form a relationship (even Kate Mulgrew mentioned it as a possibility) before they changed it to a mother/daughter relationship.
In Enterprise, Tripp was supposed to be gay, and even in the last episode, this idea was alluded to when an off screen Riker (again played by Frankes) asks "Do you think he's attractive" while refering to Archer (it's made to look like he's talking to Tripp, when in reality he's talking to an off screen Troi)
The Next Generation movies DID manage to sneak in two or three relationships. During the Borg attack in First Contact, a character was gay (and was mentioned at having a partner at least in the novelization).
All these efforts at inclusion were changed due to executive meddling.
Wikipedia has an interesting article. Most show runners have tried. which is more than can be said for others. They do a better job in comics and the novels/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_in_Star_Trek#LGBT_in_Star_Trek