It's More Than Okay to Be Takei

May 31, 2011
Jon Pike

George Takei - Gage Skidmore

George Takei has taken his fame as a member of the Star Trek cast to be a tireless fighter for human rights.

Some people seem to be born to have interesting lives. Consider the case of one man who was imprisoned for no crime by the country that he was born in, went on to become a featured player in an unsuccessful, and later cult TV show, and then started a second life as political activist. This is the life of George Takei.

He was imprisoned when he was a child for no reason other than where his forbears came from, as he was one of many loyal Japanese-Americans who were imprisoned during World War II. His most enduring acting role was on Star Trek, which was later parlayed into a number of films.

He later became, and remains a political activist, largely because he is gay. He has used what notoriety he has to be a face for gay rights and other civil rights issues in the United States.

George Takei's Commitment to Civil Rights

Even though he did not publicly come out as a gay man until 2005, Takei, in an interview with Metro Weekly, a Washington DC newspaper devoted to gay issues said that he had been involved with civil rights since the 1960s, advocating for the rights of African-Americans. He said he had also been involved in the struggle to get some sort of redress for Japanese-Americans like himself, who were imprisoned during World War II, "With no charges, no trials, no due process, we were summarily rounded up. I still remember that day when soldiers with bayoneted rifles came to our front door to order our family out."

George Takei has also taken his activism to the gay rights and marriage equality movement. With the controversy over gay marriage in California, Takei married the man with whom he had been partners for over 20 years, Brad Altman. In fact, Takei and Altman use each other’s names formally in addition to their own names.

As a gay man, who had notoriety for the roles he had played, Takei has willingly made himself the face for gay rights in the United States. He has continued to use his notoriety to inject himself into public controversies.

George Continues His Activism

Takei has publicly taken on a proposed law in Tennessee that would effectively prevent teachers from using the word "gay “or discussing homosexuality in the classroom.

Takei has quite literally lent his name to the cause by suggesting that if people are uncomfortable with the word, "gay", they should use "Takei."

Takei has also continued to tell the story of his Japanese-American family. He has put together a musical about the internment camps entitled, Allegiance.

Takei has proved himself to be no celebrity dilettante when it comes to activism. He has used his fame to continue to speak out on issues dear to him.