George Takei, Star Trek's Mr. Sulu, comes out

[Charlie Brown]

http://www.sovo.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=3204

Actor George Takei, best known for his role as Mr. Hikaru Sulu in "Star Trek," came out as homosexual in the current issue of Frontiers, a biweekly Los Angeles magazine covering the gay and lesbian community.

The current social and political climate also motivated Takei's disclosure, he said.

"The world has changed from when I was a young teen feeling ashamed for being gay," he said. "The issue of gay marriage is now a political issue. That would have been unthinkable when I was young."

Takei, a Japanese-American who lived in a U.S. internment camp from age 4 to 8, said he grew up feeling shameful about his ethnicity and sexuality. He likened prejudice against gays to racial segregation.

"It's against basic decency and what American values stand for," he said.

[rodeodance]

1. good for him. I hope he is happy.

[MojoXN]

2. Good for you, George Takei!

Never disguise who and what you are. I'm straight, but if I were of the other persusasion, I'd hate to think that I'd need to hide my true nature. May you find true love, George...

MojoXN

[Skink]

7. Maybe Rove will come out.

[Mythsaje]

3. Good for him...

He's a pretty damn good writer too.

[Maat]

4. Good for him.

Here's wishing him great happiness in the future.

[shenmue]

5. Good to hear

Glad he can be open and happy about it.

:7

:thumbsup:

:loveya:

:applause:

[The Traveler]

6. Bravo, George

Now my wife may stop drooling over that episode in which Sulu thought you were D'Artagnion and went around fencing without a shirt. :evilgrin: But probably not ...

[uppityperson]

11. Naw, we can and will still drool.

Just because he is gay doesn't make him any less reachable for me than being a tv character and we can still appreciate him. drool.

[The Traveler]

35. My wife has just informed me

that she agrees exactly with your position!

[Boomer]

28. Sulu was straight....

So she can still drool. :*

[The Traveler]

37. George Takei is a cool guy

and his character Sulu something of an icon in American folk lore now. It really sucks he doesn't have the same rights as I do.

[meisje]

8. Good to know

[mac56]

9. good for him

He always seemed like one of the most affable members of the ST:TOS cast.

[uppityperson]

10. Good, am glad when positive figures can do this.

[Gregorian]

12. Haha! I always knew he was too cool.

Always the totally together guy.
He's great!

What a shame to have to live in secrecy and guilt. It took bravery for him to be open like that.

Congratulations Mr. Sulu.

[Daphne08]

13. I love George Takei

and I hope he's happy.

[xultar]

14. Hey how awesome!

[Ilsa]

15. Way to go, G.T.! Hope he's a happy man

now that he's more comfortable being out.

[begin_within]

16. Damn. And all this time I had a crush on the wrong character.

(Scotty)

[benburch]

17. My gaydar went off on him long ago.

I always assumed he was out!

[Boomer]

30. It's been an open secret for years

As a life-long Trekkie, deep into fandom for several decades, it was just one of those things that a lot of people knew but didn't necessarily talk about.

But I'm really glad to hear him speak out publicly, since Trek is such a part of our culture. This really helps to break barriers in people's minds.

[TommyO]

42. Gaydar was a bit faulty here...

I didn't realized it until he appeared on the Howard Stern show!

[TommyO]

18. Ahoy, Mr. Takei, and thank you

Though many of us have come out earlier in life, congratulations for making a very big step. It's too bad Star Trek never was truly able to show a gay man/woman/couple without resorting to tricks. Given the progress we've made in the 21st century, I truly hope the 23rd and 24th century will have forgotten the bigotry we face today.

[FVZA_Colonel]

19. Let's hope they have not forgotten it, but that they have moved past it.

eom.

[PennyK]

20. True, but don't forget

The interracial kiss got them a lot of notoriety.

[Boomer]

31. Many of the producers were homophobic

I don't know about Roddenberry's attitude toward gays, but I do know that many of the Trek producers that followed in his footsteps were homophobic and rejected gay storylines. The inability of TNG and later series to deal matter-of-factly with the subject really pissed me off.

The one TNG episode that made me go ballistic was one in which Beverly Crusher fell in love with an alien that was basically a parasitic worm living inside a human (male) host. When the worm jumped into a female host, Beverly bowed out of the relationship. Alien worm, no problem; female human, no thank you. How f*cked up is that?

For decades, Trek stories involved cross-species mating -- genetically equivalent to bestiality -- and yet same-sex relationships were taboo. So it's okay for a human to have sex with a Vulcan or a Klingon or a cloud or a worm, but only if its a male-female cross-species relationship?

Give me a break.

[Terran]

36. Oh come on.

Passing on gay storylines does not equal "homophobia". I'm gay and I can imagine several reasons for doing that that mainly involve money, not hatred of gay people.

And it seems you missed that same-sex kiss they had on DS9 many years ago. Thta was a plot similar to the one you describe, except it resulted in passion between a female and a female host.

[Boomer]

38. The original series was not afraid of controversy

If Roddenberry was worried about losing money, he would never have allowed the inter-racial kiss between Kirk and Uhura, an episode that was pulled from airing on many Southern TV stations. I've always admired him for that, enough to forgive him for those ridiculous mini-skirts the women wore.

Unfortunately, the producers that followed Roddenberry were not interested in political and social issues, in using science-fiction as a platform for pushing boundaries. Many shows around them had the guts to show gay guest characters -- from Kate & Allie to Bill Cosby and any number of dramas. So Trek would hardly have faced adverse repercussions.

In those days I knew enough people who worked at the studio to have a pretty good idea of what was happening between the writers and actors -- who were significantly more enlightened -- and the ultimate decision makers, who were not. Some of them were just insecure macho jerks, and they didn't want queers in the show. Just as they often couldn't understand why the actors were peeved about sexist storylines.

And I did miss the DS9 episode to which you refer, because I was never a big DS9 fan and stopped watching the series after the first year or two.

On the other hand, I loved the Janeway/Seven slash that blossomed in fanfiction. It was more fun than the real series!

[TommyO]

41. Ah, Jadzia Dax..

"I've always admired him for that, enough to forgive him for those ridiculous mini-skirts the women wore."

But you have to admit, Jadzia Dax's line was great... "in the old days operations officers wore red, command officers wore gold... AND WOMEN WORE LESS"

And this is coming from a gay man who knows how sexist 1960's TV was, even though I was born just two years before Star Trek: TOS premiered.

[Tesha]

54. Perhaps in the Star Trek Universe sexuality was no longer a "big deal"

Sexuality-oriented story lines are only striking to us because we
make such a big deal over any given person's sexuality.

I've always assumed that in the Star Trek Universe, people have long
since gotten over sexuality (and sexual orientation) being anything
to get put out about, and everybody sleeps with anyone that is
mutually agreeable to the encounter. That would mean that in this
universe, you can't craft a story that makes a big deal about a
character's sexuality because none of the other characters would
give a darn.*

And that's the way it ought to be.

But really, do you think Tasha Yar was straight? ;-)

Tesha


*Well, maybe if the Enterprise went to the Planet of the Fundamentalist
Assholes, but I don't think the Powers That Be would allow *THAT*
exact story line on TV (primarily because it would offend Funda-
mentalist Assholes everywhere), although Star Trek often did similar
story lines "by loose association" (where the targets were too dim
to understand they were being parodied).

[long_green]

62. Wait a minute...

Tasha Yar got it on with Data.
So that makes her....ummmm....
I'll get back to you.

[Tesha]

67. "Polymemetically Perverse"

> Wait a minute...
> Tasha Yar got it on with Data.
> So that makes her....ummmm....
> I'll get back to you.

"Polymemetically Perverse"

(Yes, I know I'm mixing my Sci-Fi metaphors. ;-) )

Tesha

[intrepid_wanderer]

55. yes... but!

the $$ is more for the 'homo' who hides it....

aka even the marketplace dislikes more than likes a homo... and that bothers ME

.. a homo and NO, no-one missed the DS9 episode you saw who actually watched DS9

[TommyO]

39. That's my big problem with TNG

"Beverly bowed out of the relationship. Alien worm, no problem; female human, no thank you. How f*cked up is that?"

Very f'd up if you ask me - it was the perfect episode to break through all of the homophobic crap that's been spewed on TV, and they had a stereotypical reaction.

[DavidDvorkin]

21. Charlie Brown as in Charles N. Brown?

Or is this just a curious coincidence?

[LeftyMom]

22. That's fucking awesome.

:D

[Pab Sungenis]

23. Set phasers on "Bravo."

Thank you, George.

[BikeWriter]

24. Freak'n A, good people!

[sonicx]

25. Cool, i'm still waiting for Jodie Foster...

[Nostradamus]

26. mods please delete this dup

[Nostradamus]

27. Set phasers on stunning

nice pex george

you can "kling on" to me anytime

[karlrschneider]

29. I've thought he was gay for ...30? years? From the first, anyway...

Good for him in any case. :D

[onehandle]

32. Old news to us sci-fi con fan-boys.

But since it's important to him, that's great!

I went on a morning run with him and some others at a convention twenty years ago. It was no secret then either.

[hfojvt]

51. I did find it sorta odd

that his autobiography, written about ten years ago, did not mention any dating or relationships. I would like to see it done again, with that in there. Would his co-workers be surprised - Doohan, or Kelley, etc.?

[long_green]

63. Would Doohan and Kelley be surprised?

I think they're both past surprising.
Walter Koenig, on the other hand I hear, is inconsolable.

[HeeBGBz]

33. Rock on, George

Thanks for sharing.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

34. I'd like to think that every time another celebrity comes out,

things are a little easier for my gay and lesbian friends. I hope so, anyway.

Congrats, George, on going public.

Peace to all...

[Dr Fate]

40. I'm glad for Mr. Sulu- the ST cast are my boy-hood heros...

..hell, those characters are STILL great heros & examples to me.

[donheld]

43. My gaydar missed that one

Welcome to the outside Mr Takei.
:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[AntiCoup2K4]

44. Seems to be documented gaydar malfunctions in this thread.

Maybe it doesn't work around warp drive engines? :evilgrin:

[Lilith Velkor]

50. Maybe, but I don't care.

Happy coming-out day George!! :party: :yourock:

[MrScorpio]

45. I met him once in '94 at a book signing

I sensed that he was gay.

It's was kinda of weird that meeting him in person would give me that impression and I never had it all the time I saw him on TV.

Now I know for sure.

[Spider Jerusalem]

56. Reminds me of something the late Sir John Gielgud said...

"My dear boy, of COURSE I can play a heterosexual! I am, after all, and ACTOR!" And "gaydar" is one of those social senses that works better in person, or so it seems...

[NMMNG]

46. Good for him

Although it's a pity it took so long.

[Az]

47. Woot!

Congrats George. Freedom is a wonderful thing.

[enigmatic]

48. wow

that's fantastic that he's come out...

[Initech]

49. Heh, I just watched the 3rd Rock episode with him in it last night...

He's George Takei, damn it!

[Robeson]

52. Good for him. Glad he can be himself. As we all should be ourselves....

...this isn't the hetero or homo race. Its the human race.

[Scoots]

53. Set phasers on 'decorate'

Seriously though, you've got to appreciate his courage coming out after all these years.

[Jed Dilligan]

57. Ahead Warp Factor Gay!

Glad to see him looking so healthy, too.

[kwassa]

58. I knew this 20 years ago when I went running with George Takai

He was a member of The Frontrunners, which was a gay running club in Los Angeles. A good friend of mine who is gay is a good friend of George, and also in the running club.

Takai was the grand marshal or some such sponser of a 5K race in Chinatown called the Firecracker 5K, or something like that. I've met him socially a couple of times.

He has a huge, booming voice, something that doesn't really come across on Star Trek. Very nice guy, very socially aware and involved.

[Beware the Beast Man]

69. Next to James Earl Jones,

he has my favorite celebrity voice.

[underpants]

59. 'Star Trek' Actor George Takei Comes Out

LOS ANGELES - George Takei, who as helmsman Sulu steered the Starship Enterprise through three television seasons and six movies, has come out as a homosexual in the current issue of Frontiers, a biweekly Los Angeles magazine covering the gay and lesbian community.

Takei told The Associated Press on Thursday that his new onstage role as psychologist Martin Dysart in "Equus," helped inspire him to publicly discuss his sexuality.

Takei described the character as a "very contained but turbulently frustrated man." The play opened Wednesday at the David Henry Hwang Theater in Los Angeles, the same day that Frontiers magazine featured a story on Takei's coming out.

The current social and political climate also motivated Takei's disclosure, he said.

"The world has changed from when I was a young teen feeling ashamed for being gay," he said. "The issue of gay marriage is now a political issue. That would have been unthinkable when I was young."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051028/ap_en_tv/people_george_takei_17

[Orsino]

60. Open secret.

Great that another recognizable face has the courage to come out, but the big news is the Dysart role. Fascinating.

"I never gallop."

[MN ChimpH8R]

61. Good for him!

I always liked the Sulu character and Takei himself always seemed like a good guy.

[khashka]

64. That's pretty cool....

I wish him all happiness.

Khash.

[swimboy]

65. The final frontier . . .

Congratulations all round. I wish him much happiness.

(Note to self--put call in to gaydar repair man. Ask them to send the cute one.)

[edbermac]

66. Here's a pic of George "working out" with Jeff Gannon...

[losdiablosgato]

68. I guess that is why he always liked taking the captain's log.

}(

Sorry couldn't resist.