# Wow, George Takei just came out. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 28, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259 "2005-10-28T03:40:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/21 "2005-10-28T04:48:34Z")
Good question, **Leaper**. If I was being super-optimistic, I would say “maybe it’ll move the debate beyond ‘you’re born gay’ vs. ‘it’s a choice,’ since it’s not an either/or situation at all.” ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/22 "2005-10-28T06:16:31Z")
> [@Hung Mung](#): > > Either way, that was a fantastic interview linked in the OP. I love Takei’s eloquence. If those kinds of statements could get more time in the media I think it would go a ways in advancing gay rights. At least I’d like to think so. Hell, if those kinds of statements could get more time in the media I think it would go a ways in advancing human non-stupidness. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/23 "2005-10-28T06:21:22Z")
You didn’t know? Turn in your Starfleet ID card !!:mad: :mad: :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/24 "2005-10-28T06:33:00Z")
I had heard that if asked about it by fans at conventions, he would say he’s proud to be a Japanese American, and proud to be gay. I’m surprised this is news to Trek fans. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/25 "2005-10-28T06:33:16Z")
Not that I want to take anything away from GT and this interview, but AFAIK it’s been fairly common knowledge for over a decade that he’s gay. And, apropos of nothing, back in the day GT was _beautiful_. Not that he’s still not an attractive man, but _damn_, he was gorgeous. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/26 "2005-10-28T07:09:31Z")
Count me among those surprised. Not that I really give a toot about his sexual orientation, but this is as much of a non sequiter as Oprah announcing she’s a vegetarian. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/27 "2005-10-28T10:51:20Z")
George Takei is gay? No! No! NOOOOOOOO!!! KHAAAAAAAAAAANNNNN! Wait a minute … wait a minute … I’m completely OK with Takei being gay. I had him confused with that other guy … never can tell them apart … oh, yeah … Patrick Stewart. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/28 "2005-10-28T11:38:54Z")
Well, heck, I never got the memo. How am I supposed to keep up with this stuff if nobody sends me the memos? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/29 "2005-10-28T11:54:48Z")
Takei’s gay? Oh, my… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/30 "2005-10-28T12:54:09Z")
He _liked_ Arkansas! He played with tadpoles and enjoyed the snow. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/31 "2005-10-28T13:07:49Z")
When he refered to his Naked Time performance as like a gay Cavillier I always assumed he meant gay in the olde English way… Well good for him. Hopefully one day there will be no need for announcements like this. People will just not care one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/32 "2005-10-28T13:17:36Z")
The thing that surprises me the most is that he was in an internment camp in WWII. I don’t know why this surprises me, it just proves I’ve never done the math wit the cast of TOS. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/33 "2005-10-28T13:31:14Z")
> [@kingpengvin](#): > > When he refered to his Naked Time performance as like a gay Cavillier I always assumed he meant gay in the olde English way… I read in one of the old fanbooks about the show that when they did that episode, Takei really got into it, swashbuckling all over the set . . . “the entire production crew threatened to quit, _en masse,_ if anyone ever put a sword in George’s hand again.” I can think of no way to do such a straight line justice, so I’ll just let it lie there. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/34 "2005-10-28T13:53:29Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > Wow. That came, like, totally out of left field. No it didn’t. :dubious: It’s been an open secret among Trekkies for years. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/35 "2005-10-28T13:57:13Z")
We’ve figured he was gay for years, not that we cared one way or another. Mostly we’ve just always liked him for his kindness to fans. I remember taking the kids to see him at a Star Trek convention years ago, when they were both pre-teen, and he always took time to be so gracious to everyone, even the kid who asked him, “So how does it feel to really pilot a starship?” No mockery whatsoever, even though most of us in the audience were cringing; he just gently tried to explain the difference between reality and, y’know, that thing called _fiction_ to the kid. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/36 "2005-10-28T13:58:44Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I read in one of the old fanbooks about the show that when they did that episode, Takei really got into it, swashbuckling all over the set . . . “the entire production crew threatened to quit, _en masse,_ if anyone ever put a sword in George’s hand again.” > > I can think of no way to do such a straight line justice, so I’ll just let it lie there. And it’s well that you did, **BrainGlutton** , as I’m already cleaning orange juice off my monitor and keyboard, thank \*you \*very much. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/37 "2005-10-28T14:24:55Z")
Get your 10:1 odds that there’ll be a new Takei book on shelves within one year. I just hate that he was so afraid of Jimmy Doohan beating him up he had to wait til he was dead to come out. What would you call a book about coming out as a STAR TREK actor? My suggestions: _The Guy Who Beams Me Up_ and _My Sex Life: Warp Factor 9_ Yours? ---
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/38 "2005-10-28T14:43:02Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Get your 10:1 odds that there’ll be a new Takei book on shelves within one year. > I just hate that he was so afraid of Jimmy Doohan beating him up he had to wait til he was dead to come out. > > What would you call a book about coming out as a STAR TREK actor? > > My suggestions: > > _The Guy Who Beams Me Up_ > > and > > _My Sex Life: Warp Factor 9_ > > Yours? _To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before_? _Editing the Captain’s Log_? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/39 "2005-10-28T14:55:55Z")
Sulu was my favorite character on TOS, and I like how Takei played him low key amidst all the hams on that show. I’d have liked to see a movie or miniseries based on that Starship Sulu was commanding in some of the movies. (I can’t remember the name of it.) I thought he made a good no-nonsense Captain compared to Kirk or Picard. But I guess he’s a little long in the tooth for that to happen now. Count me in among those surprised by the revelation. With 20-20 hindsight I guess he activates my “gaydar” but I never really thought about it at all. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259/40 "2005-10-28T15:03:19Z")
I don’t think this is from left field at all. Although it shouldn’t matter one bit what someone’s orientation is sexually, so congratulations to him for saying something in the press. Maybe it’ll help people figure it isn’t shameful or bad to be gay. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-george-takei-just-came-out/328259.md?page=3)