Out actor, icon and activist George Takei mixes social media savvy with a social message
BY GEORGE! | George Takei thinks it’s about time for ‘Star Trek’ to boldly go where some have gone before: Adding an out gay human to the slate of edgy characters in the storied franchise’s history.
George Takei knows the power of a cat meme. Of all things, it’s the pussy that gave him a platform and set the stage for something more than just pervy postings and silly jests: gay activism. Best known as Sulu from the original Star Trek series and its movies spin-offs, the actor isn’t only the voice of a generation but of generations.
Takei (Ta-KAY) swooshed out of the closet at age 68 to become a powerful LGBT advocate and especially social media magnate — his Facebook posts are tremendously popular among his nearly 7.3 million followers.
Now 77 years old, he reflects on all facets of his life during To Be Takei, a documentary that screened at the Oak Lawn Film Festival a few weeks ago, but which is also viewable on DirecTV through Aug. 6 and video on demand.
In the midst of traveling the Pride circuit, the cultural icon phoned us up to chat about it being “high time” for a gay Star Trek character (and why it hasn’t happened yet), how closeted actors are still common and — ohh, myyy! — autographing his fans’ private parts.
— Chris Azzopardi
Dallas Voice: What’s the message you’ve been bringing with you to Pride festivals? George Takei: That we’re making amazing progress, and that’s because all of the people in the community are pulling at the same wagon. Because of people like [Stephen Snyder-Hill, the soldier that spoke at the Republican debate in 2011], who have the courage to ask [the hard] questions and take principled stands, we’re making the progress that we are.
You’ve been an integral part of that progress. For someone who wasn’t out for most of his life, how surreal is it for you to be riding in a Pride parade at this point? I lived most of my life closeted because I wanted my career. That was a heavy price to pay, because you’re living with the constant tension of exposure — somebody could expose me and that’s the end of my career.
In my early 20s, Tab Hunter was a god of the box office at the time — blonde, good looking, young — and played the lead in almost every movie that was coming out. He was exposed as gay in one of the scandal sheets, and you never heard from him again. That puts the fear in you, and you’re always living with your guard up. You don’t know what or who might destroy your career, and so when you come out, you’re completely relieved of that tension. You can live fully as who you are.
I had an interesting experience: the State Department sent me on one big tour of South Korea and Japan, which culminated with U.S. ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, honoring me with a reception. As one of her guests, she had the first lady of Japan, the wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who told me that she had ridden in what she called a “Rainbow Pride Parade” in Tokyo this summer. Can you imagine the first lady of Japan riding in a Pride parade?
Changes are happening. Not only in the United States, but all over the world. It’s a very optimistic time, but we still have the Employment Non-Discrimination Act before us – you can be fired for no other reason than who you are. It’s the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” of the civilian population. So, it is an exciting time but we still have a long way to go.
How common do you think it is these days for actors to keep their sexuality concealed for their careers? It’s still not uncommon. There are actors who have to be living that double life. I won’t name them, but you know, it’s a decision that they have to make. It’s a very personal decision. I don’t know the specifics, but with society changing, they [seem] to be more and more like outdated dinosaurs who maintain that kind of life.
Are you saying you know people in showbiz who are closeted? Friends of yours? I do. You know, when I was doing Star Trek my colleagues knew, but they’re good people, they’re cool, and they did not expose me. Well, one of them … the fact that I am who I am went right over his head. I’ll leave it to you to guess whom.
In the last 10 years, you’ve become quite the accidental activist, and because your parents come up often in the documentary, I’m wondering what you think they would say about your role as an LGBT role model? They’re both gone now. My father had passed long ago, and it’s one of my regrets in life that I never came out to him. But I know he would’ve supported me. He did tell me: “Look at TV, look at movies, look at the kind of roles that Asians have to play — tiny roles to begin with, and stereotype roles at that — is that what you wanna go into?” I told my father: “Daddy, I will change it.” He supported me in that. I think he knew deep down who I was; he was waiting for me to come out to him.
When I came out to my mother, she had some difficulties, but she knew who [my now-husband] Brad was. Brad was in my life already, and she thought of him as my friend, but when I came out to her, the situation was changed. She already knew Brad for who he was and that he was a nice guy, so it wasn’t really that difficult. As life would have it, Brad and I took care of her in the last years of her life. She moved in with us. He became more a son to her than my own brother.
Your career resurgence is a marvel. And for 77, you sure know your way around social media. You’ve got a stereotype in your mind about 77-year-olds! There are a lot of us who are very comfortable with social media. My generation is not as out of touch with technology as you youngsters seem to think.
What role has humor played in how you present politics and social commentary on LGBT issues? It is key to building your audience. The reason why I got so actively involved with social media is, it’s been my mission in life to raise the awareness of my childhood incarceration — imprisonment of Japanese-Americans simply because we happened to look like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor. So, I’ve been going on speaking tours to universities and doing corporate events, and we founded a museum called the Japanese American National Museum — we’re an affiliate of the Smithsonian — and we developed a musical based on the internment called Allegiance.
I thought I’d use social media [to promote it], but my base, when I started in 2010, was essentially made up of sci-fi geeks and nerds — my Star Trek audience — and I had to grow that. So, by trial and error I found that the humorous things, the funnies, or the cat memes, got the most likes and shares. Then I started concentrating more on that, and it started to explode. It was really amazing how fast, and how big, your audience base can grow in social media. And once the audience had grown to a certain size I started zinging them with social justice issues, LGBT issues and the internment of Japanese-Americans, as well as various other things … like proper grammar!
Do you think we’ll ever see an out LGBT human on Star Trek? I think now it’s high time. I did very quietly bring up the subject to Gene Roddenberry when we were starting our movie series and he said with television he had to walk a very tight rope. You know, we were dealing with issues at that time — the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, the Cold War — and that episode where Kirk kissed Uhura, a white man kissing a black woman, that was blacked out in all of the Southern states. Our ratings plummeted! [Gene] said he knows that the LGBT issue is a civil rights issue, but he had to keep the show on the air, and if he pushed the envelope too far he wouldn’t be able to address any of the issues. Same thing with feature films now: bigger budget, higher risk. And he had said he’s predicating a 23rd century when the LGBT issue would not be an issue, but it is an issue of our times that we’re dealing with metaphorically in terms of science fiction and he wants to deal with it and still be able to make movies. He had said he hopes for the time that he will be able to do it.
Alas, Gene passed. It was in ’91 that he passed, and we’re 20 years-plus from that time. We’ve advanced with unimagined speed, and I think now it is high time Star Trek deal with the issue of LGBT equality. Now there are Star Trek actors who are out. Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in the reboot, came out, and I am out. With the two of us out, it is now safe for Star Trek to deal with LGBT equality.
Some fans have some very specific requests when they meet you. What’s been the most bizarre fan request you’ve experienced? I’ve been asked to autograph various body parts. And some are, um, very private parts. I’ll let your imagination go there.
Did you follow through on these requests? I did!
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition July 18, 2014.