The Outcast

The J'naii, a species that regards itself as without gender, ask the Enterprise to help find a shuttle lost in a pocket of null space. Riker works on the rescue with the J'naii pilot Soren, and the two grow close. Soren eventually confides that she identifies as female, which her society treats as a primitive perversion to be cured. Their feelings for each other deepen, and after the pair rescue the stranded J'naii crew, their relationship is discovered. Soren is put on trial, where she makes a passionate defence of her right to be who she is, but the authorities order her to undergo psychotectic therapy to remove her gender identity. Riker, helped by Worf, attempts a rescue, but they arrive too late. The treatment has already taken effect, and Soren calmly tells Riker that she is happy now, that her feelings for him were a passing illness, and that she will not leave.