"Shields Down, Mister Sulu"

But set phasers to "Swish!"

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.

The funny thing is, the other night on Too Late with Adam Corrolla, Adam and his guest Andy Dick were playing "Gay, Straight, or Dead," and when Takei's picture popped up, he was ruled "Straight,"based on the show's contact with Takei's publicist. I wonder if that's what drove him out of the closet. Not that there's anything wrong with that.