Sexuality Outside of Marriage
Most relationships into which Starfleet officers enter are brief, nonmarital, serially monogamous. Officers are frequently seen to have sexual relationships lasting no more than an episode. James T. Kirk and William Riker are models of this kind of sexual practice, each with long lists of temporary partners. In Generations, Kirk reminisces over his girlfriend of two years, Antonia. He regrets never marrying her. In the Nexus temporal anomaly he is provided a second chance and decides to marry her. In actuality, the Nexus is not real and the marriage never takes place.
Some characters have been shown to have children out of wedlock. Kirk's son David Marcus and Worf's son Alexander Rozhenko were both born to parents who never married.
Deltans, a race introduced in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, are so profoundly sexual that they must swear an oath of celibacy upon entering Starfleet to avoid harming non-Deltans they may serve with.
Religious figures, as in real life, are not necessarily bound by rules of celibacy in the Star Trek universe. On the deeply religious world of Bajor, for instance, even the spiritual leaders may enter non-marital sexual relationships without religious disapproval.
Read more about this topic: Sexuality In Star Trek
Famous quotes containing the word marriage:
“Every relationship that does not raise us up pulls us down, and vice versa; this is why men usually sink down somewhat when they take wives while women are usually somewhat raised up. Overly spiritual men require marriage every bit as much as they resist it as bitter medicine.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)