Mr. Sulu Comes Out!

The announcements keep coming! George Takei, the actor who played Mr. Sulu on Star Trek, comes out in the current issue of Frontiers Magazine. Takei and his partner have been together for the past 18 years, but haven't spoken to the press until now. Now, I can't say its a complete surprise that we find out that someone from the original Star Trek was gay, although my money would have been on the late DeForest Kelley, who played Dr. Leonard McCoy aka "Bones", after seeing him saunter around in his scarf in the last couple of ST movies. For the record, however, Kelley was straight and married.

Of course, this doesn't even consider the character of Wesley Crusher in ST:TNG, which I have to say was one of the gayest characters in TV history. Once again, for the record, as far as I know, Wil Wheaton is not gay (married with kids, actually), just a self-described geek.

I digress. My point was not to rip on Wil Wheaton or Star Trek. To the contrary, I grew up loving Star Trek and the reality is that it has had an enormous cultural impact. I think that every person that comes out helps us in the road to acceptance in this country and around the world. So, thanks for being willing to step forward, George. Glad you're part of the family.