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.
[...]
"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."
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
"Equus" helped someone deal with their psychological issues?
Now THAT'S suprising.
Posted by TheHumanTarget (Member # 7129) on :
Breaking news: So is Star Trek Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
So does the Federation have a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy?
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
Breaking news, HA. Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
I imagine, considering some of the species they've encountered, the policy is "Don't ask. We can't tell."
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Posted by Zeugma (Member # 6636) on :
Good for him and his partner... but really, what's incredible is that he's SIXTY-EIGHT?? Holy crap! He looks amazing! What the heck does he eat?? Posted by TheHumanTarget (Member # 7129) on :
quote: What the heck does he eat??
Too...many...responses...can't...pick...one
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
quote:Originally posted by TheHumanTarget:
quote: What the heck does he eat??
Too...many...responses...can't...pick...one
OMG! Posted by Zeugma (Member # 6636) on :
Haha! My legendary knack for accidental double entendres strikes again! Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
In CNN's entertainment section I saw some headlines reminiscent of the Adjacent Thread Titles thread.
quote: Naked Janet Jackson video on Web George Takei, 'Trek's' Sulu: I'm gay
Seems a little harsh. Come on, Sulu, she can't be that bad.
--Enigmatic
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
Dude, the Howard Stern show has been on to this story for years. You people are so behind the times Posted by TheHumanTarget (Member # 7129) on :
Howard Stern thinks everyone but him is gay... Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
I loved that episode where he stripped down to the waist and swashbuckled all up and down the hallways. For no clear reason, except, I suppose, to show off that hot bod of his.
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
Oh, hardly Target. I mean, he's never said Kirk was gay, that I'm aware of.
Posted by TheHumanTarget (Member # 7129) on :
I can see all of the fanfic forums going nuts over this...suddenly their stories make sense.
Posted by SingerGuy59 (Member # 5934) on :
This news came as no surprise at all to me. Just seemed to fit in with what I already suspected (no double meaning intended).
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
Ron told me about this on our morning walk. He'd read about it on FARK, I think.
Ron: Sulu came out. He's gay.
Me : Good for him!
By which I meant only that I imagine it was good for him, to be able to be honest about himself.
Posted by romanylass (Member # 6306) on :
I never thought about. Too busy looking at the bod. Dang, he's still hawt.
(Edit: I mean, 68 and still hawt! Not that his sexual orientation would have affected my opinion of his looks).
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
This is not news to me. People at cons I went to 20 years a go new he was gay.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Ditto, SS. This was totally a "known" thing back in my con-going days (about 15 years ago).
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
He was extremely classy when I met him on a cruise. I was wearing a shirt that said "Just Married," because I was on my honeymoon. He saw me at the dock, walked up to me, shook my hand, and congratulated me.
I returned to Cor and said, "Guess what? Sulu just congratulated me on getting married!"
Nice guy.
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
quote:(Edit: I mean, 68 and still hawt! Not that his sexual orientation would have affected my opinion of his looks).
Gotta love that asian blood .
Of course, at my age, everyone thinks I'm 18. <sigh>
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Nice guy.
Definitely. Posted by romanylass (Member # 6306) on :
I've not had the honor- I've met Doohan and Koenig, though.
I love his voice, too. *swoon*
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
quote: I returned to Cor and said, "Guess what? Sulu just congratulated me on getting married!" [Smile]
That is the awesomest thing I've heard all day!!
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
In other news, raisins discovered to have a "raisiny" flavor!
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
lol.
I always thought he came off as kind of bitter over the whole StarTrek experience when I'd heard him interviewed. I guess I can understand that, especially if he pretty much didn't like William Shatner.
I always figured he and Dr. McCoy were a couple, though.
Posted by odouls268 (Member # 2145) on :
quote: George Takei, who as helmsman Sulu steered the Starship Enterprise through three television seasons and six movies
Negative. In the sixth movie, he was Captain of the Excelsior. Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
He is definitely a nice guy. He was known (don't know if he's doing it any more) for jogging with fans in the morning at cons. Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Bob, are you sure you're not thinking of Koenig? He was extremely bitter (as was Doohan). Koenig also isn't especially nice to fans (not that this correlates to being bitter).
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
Mmmmmmm... Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*echoes Ic* Takei has always been fairly mum on the issue (at least in public), while a number of the others were happy to air their grievances publicly.
The only thing I've heard him be bitter about was the rules that meant that Star Trek reruns got pulled off SoCal TV stations when he was running for a local political office. (Otherwise the station had to give his opponent equal airtime.)
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
I heard him say some rather pointed things about Shatner at one point. It could be that I just assumed he was like that all the time.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
But the thing is, every actor on the show hated Shatner. He was a hammy, line-stealing jerk.
He has resuscitated his image, but that doesn't change things.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Yeah, I figure hating Shatner is kind of like the only thing that kept the cast from using real phasers on each other.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Posted by Tarrsk (Member # 332) on :
Good for him. He's been a hero of mine since I first started watching Trek.
I think there was some acrimony between Shatner and Takei (along with every other actor on the show, it seems), but everything I've heard indicates that Takei is a great guy at cons, extremely nice and patient.
Posted by Taalcon (Member # 839) on :
Wasn't Takei at one point pushing for an Excelsior TV series? We saw a bit of what that would be like on a Voyager ep, methinks.
Posted by foundling (Member # 6348) on :
"I always figured he and Dr. McCoy were a couple, though." Hmmm.... (surruptitiosly wipes drool from chin)
Didnt someone in this forum recently post that "Kirk and Spock love" site? Man, there was lots of man love going around. I wonder how Ohura felt about all this?
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Before TNG there was a lot of talk about a Excelsior show. Again, after TNG was winding down, they came out with ST-Brave New Worlds where Excelsior saves the day, and hinted of Excelsior. I thought it had potential. I hope it wasn't dropped, and replaced with say--Voyager--because they were afraid his sexuality would limit the show's potential.
I admit that a Star Trek show where a Kirk-like captain bedded a different Man every other week would not be too entertaining to me.
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
Just because he's gay doesn't mean his CHARACTER is gay. Although I admit, I had a little bit of a jolt of 'awww' when I heard about this. I thought back to the shirtless fencing episode and wiped a tear away for history's women. But I waved a flag for history's men.
Can I help it if I like tiny asian men?
Posted by romanylass (Member # 6306) on :
See, I always figured Spock was switching back and forth between Kirk and Bones.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Some of you people have read entirely too many fanfics.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Before TNG there was a lot of talk about a Excelsior show.
There was talk about that show before Enterprise, too. They made the wrong choice. Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
Maybe now is a good time? I'd totally give a show starring Sulu a try. And hey, now maybe they can pull in the gay audience as well.
I never noticed much of a subtext between Kirk, Spock, or McCoy. Maybe I'm just oblivious, but where is it coming from? They're friends, but they never seemed all that attracted to each other.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
It's all from slash fiction, not from the show.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Every now and then Uhura would sing. This could have put everyone off women.
Just saying.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
*snicker*
Posted by Mariann (Member # 8724) on :
quote:Originally posted by Zeugma: Good for him and his partner... but really, what's incredible is that he's SIXTY-EIGHT?? Holy crap! He looks amazing! What the heck does he eat??
That's Asians for ya.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shigosei: I never noticed much of a subtext between Kirk, Spock, or McCoy. Maybe I'm just oblivious, but where is it coming from? They're friends, but they never seemed all that attracted to each other.
The term "slash" for fanfic that creates gay relationships between straight characters from shows originated with Kirk/Spock fanfic. That's "Kirk slash Spock", see?
There was a Star Trek novel written back in the... 70s, I think, called The Price of the Phoenix. It is far and away my favorite Star Trek novel, along with the sequel, The Fate of the Phoenix. One of the things I liked about it so much was the intensity of emotion.
It wasn't until years later, after reading an article about how those books were thinly veiled slash fiction that I had any idea there was a sexual subtext. I guess I'm kind of blind to male sexual vibes. <grin>
When I went back and reread them, I realized how it could be seen that way. Sort of how I could see the Christian stuff in Narnia after I was told about it. But it's still my favorite Star Trek story, and I recommend it highly. Aside from the subtext, it deals with questions of morality and loyalty and whether the Prime Directive really is the good thing it's painted as. It also has the best villain I've ever read.
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