From navigating the starship Enterprise to being a vocal human rights advocate, Star Trek鈥檚 George Takei has inadvertently found himself at the helm of history on more than one occasion.
Despite only loosely tying his presentation to outer space at the Jasper Dark Sky Festival, the man who played helmsman Hikaru Sulu had hundreds of attendees in the palm of his Vulcan-saluting hand, Oct. 21.
With a full tent he took the audience on a personal journey that stretched back from his time in a Japanese-American internment camp through his rise to fame on the original Star Trek television series and, decades later, full-bore into then-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger鈥檚 11th-hour about-face on gay marriage.
In previous decades he had been reluctant to come out and put his promising acting career in jeopardy, but by 2005 he鈥檇 had enough. Takei wasn鈥檛 completely absent from the movement. He participated, marched and volunteered. At one point he shook Martin Luther King鈥檚 hand and chatted with him, but he said it was the Terminator鈥檚 decision that year to veto a marriage equality law after campaigning in part on a gay rights ticket that incensed him so much he decided to speak out publicly as a gay celebrity for the first time.
Takei said gay rights advocates were inspired when Canada made marriage equality the law of the land.
鈥淲e campaigned on that,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e said 鈥榳e need to rise to the level of our Northern neighbours.鈥� You guys were the leaders and our inspiration.鈥�
The crowd awarded him with a round of applause. Takei has been winning praise from all corners since his social media presence went stratospheric, but for every standing ovation, there is a hater or two, or three (thousand).
As a lightning rod for online controversy, Takei has experienced the same mix of support and condemnation any politically active modern-day star has, but he added he has seen the same mix within his own family. He mentioned a nephew who embraced Takei鈥檚 homosexuality and who regularly employs him and his partner Brad, who came out for a brief curtain call after a Q&A session, as babysitters.
That nephew鈥檚 father, however, Takei鈥檚 own brother, remains uncomfortable with his orientation to this day.
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing to be done,鈥� he said. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 change.鈥�
Takei鈥檚 father died a number of years before he came out. Perhaps ironically, the actor believed he would have been supportive.
鈥淗e was an extraordinary man,鈥� Takei said. 鈥淚 think he would have supported me. In so many ways, he knew who I was. I think he was waiting for me to come out.鈥�
Craig Gilbert
[email protected]
