Sulu = ***

The following is the most unnecessary waste of pixels ever used in an
internet "news" story...

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Star Trek's 'Sulu' Comes Out of Closet
Friday, October 28, 2005

LOS ANGELES — George Takei, who as helmsman Sulu
steered the Starship Enterprise through three
television seasons and six movies, has come out as a
homosexual in the current issue of Frontiers, a
biweekly Los Angeles magazine covering the gay and
lesbian community.

Takei told The Associated Press on Thursday that his
new onstage role as psychologist Martin Dysart in
"Equus" helped inspire him to publicly discuss his
sexuality.

Takei described the character as a "very contained but
turbulently frustrated man." The play opened Wednesday
at the David Henry Hwang Theater in Los Angeles, the
same day that Frontiers magazine featured a story on
Takei's coming out.

The current social and political climate also
motivated Takei's disclosure, he said.

"The world has changed from when I was a young teen
feeling ashamed for being gay," he said. "The issue of
gay marriage is now a political issue. That would have
been unthinkable when I was young."

The 68-year-old actor said he and his partner, Brad
Altman, have been together for 18 years.

Takei, a Japanese-American who lived in a U.S.
internment camp from age 4 to 8, said he grew up
feeling ashamed of his ethnicity and sexuality. He
likened prejudice against gays to racial segregation.

"It's against basic decency and what American values
stand for," he said.

Takei joined the "Star Trek" cast in 1966 as Hikaru
Sulu, a character he played for three seasons on
television and in six subsequent films. He received a
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1986.

A community activist, Takei ran for the Los Angeles
City Council in 1973. He serves on the advisory
committee of the California Civil Liberties Public
Education Program and is chairman of East West
Players, the theater company producing "Equus."


--
lab~rat >:-)
Do you want polite or do you want sincere?
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