Gee Takei Disappoted Sulu Is Gay Star Trek Beyond | Time

Contents:

• SULU IS GAY IN 'STAR TREK BEYOND,' MAKG FRANCHISE HISTORY
• SIMON PEGG EXPLAS THE IMPORTANT REASON SULU IS GAY IN ‘STAR TREK BEYOND’
• HAS STAR TREK'S SULU ALWAYS BEEN GAY? IT'S COMPLITED
• ‘STAR TREK BEYOND’ NFIRMS THAT HIKA SULU IS GAY

SULU IS GAY IN 'STAR TREK BEYOND,' MAKG FRANCHISE HISTORY

On Thursday, the Herald Sun announced that the character Hika Sulu will be revealed to be gay Star Trek Beyond, which hs theaters July 22. Gee Takei, who played Sulu the origal show and who has been a proment LGBT activist sce g out as gay jt over a ago, told the Hollywood Reporter that he has been agast revealg the character as gay sce he first heard was unr nsiratn last year. “I’m lighted that there’s a gay character, ” Takei told THR.

He believed ma more sense to create a new character who has always been gay, rather than brgg Sulu out of a prumed closet.

” But he also exprsed a ncern, which he discsed wh L and -wrer Doug Jung, that a new gay character may have been perceived by the dience as a token gay character, “primarily fed by their sexualy. ” Pegg believ Rodnberry’s cisn not to velop a gay character earlier was a product of his time, not of his visn.

SIMON PEGG EXPLAS THE IMPORTANT REASON SULU IS GAY IN ‘STAR TREK BEYOND’

” Based on the movie’s timele, the cisn to make Sulu gay do not necsate his havg been the closet, Pegg explas, and prum that there has been an LGBT prence sce the begng of the anchise’s universe.

HAS STAR TREK'S SULU ALWAYS BEEN GAY? IT'S COMPLITED

One of the “Star Trek” universe’s most beloved characters is revealed to be gay the latt stallment of the inic anchise. “I liked the approach, which was not to make a big thg out , which is where I hope we are gog as a speci, to not policize one’s personal orientatns, ” he and Pegg’s cisn to pict Sulu as a gay man was a nod to Gee Takei, who played the role the origal 1960s “Star Trek” televisn seri and six subsequent films, Cho said.

Takei, 79, me out as gay 2005, and has sce gone on to bee an outspoken advote for LGBT rights. UPDATE: After news of this story broke, Takei lled the cisn to pict Sulu as a gay man “really unfortunate” a Hollywood Reporter terview. Yterday, reports h that the fan favore character, played by John Cho the current trilogy, would be revealed as openly gay the upg “Star Trek Beyond.

READ MORE: ‘Star Trek Beyond’: Gee Takei Reacts To ‘Unfortunate’ News of Gay Character. The screenwrer and his team always wanted to clu a gay character the “Star Trek” universe (maly bee the show and movi have always been so progrsive om the begng), and they felt like g a pre-existg character to do so was a more rpectful and impactful way of dog so than jt troducg a brand new origal gay character.

‘STAR TREK BEYOND’ NFIRMS THAT HIKA SULU IS GAY

Pegg explas, “We uld have troduced a new gay character, but he or she would have been primarily fed by their sexualy, seen as the ‘gay character’, rather than simply for who they are, and isn’t that tokenism? By revealg such a beloved character is gay, the screenwrg team also wanted to show that “there had been an LGBT prence the Trek Universe om the begng” and prove that “a gay hero isn’t somethg new or strange. As for Takei’s belief that turng Sulu gay chang Rodnberry’s origal visn, Pegg rpond, “I don’t believe Gene Rodnberry’s cisn to make the prime timele’s Enterprise crew straight was an artistic one, more a necsy of the time…The viewg dience weren’t open md enough at the time and mt have forced Rodnberry to modulate his novatn.

Hika Sulu is now known as the first openly gay character  Star Trek, but the character's sexualy hasn't always been so clear-cut. In 2005, 36 years after Star Trek: The Origal Seri end, Sulu's origal actor, Gee Takei, publicly me out as gay.

Wantg to honor this legacy, Simon Pegg me up wh the ia of havg Sulu be gay  J. John Cho supported the ia, as did Zachary Quto, the actor who played Spock and who publicly me out as gay 2011. Why Takei Was Upset That Sulu Beme Gay.