Sulu has been serving on
Star Trek's USS Enterprise since the TV and movie franchise first launched back in the 1960s. And in the upcoming
Star Trek Beyond, the popular character will be outed as a gay man.
Hikaru Sulu is currently being played by actor John Cho (pictured). In the new movie, it is revealed that he is in a same-sex marriage and has a daughter. And no, the movie doesn't make a big deal about it.
“I liked the approach, which was not to make a big thing out it, which is where I hope we are going as a species, to not politicise one’s personal orientations,” said Cho.
Cho admitted that the decision by writers to make Sulu gay was a nod to George Takei, who played the character in the original TV series. Takei is openly gay.
Takei, however, is not impressed.
“I’m delighted that there’s a gay character,”
he told The Hollywood Reporter. “Unfortunately, it’s a twisting of Gene’s creation, to which he put in so much thought. I think it’s really unfortunate.”
It seems that Takei believes that this is a warping of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s character, who was canonically heterosexual, despite the fact that Roddenberry often pushed it to the limit to make Trek progressive, even featuring the first interracial kiss ever aired on television.
“[Creator Gene Roddenberry] was a strong supporter of LGBT equality. But he said he has been pushing the envelope and walking a very tight rope — and if he pushed too hard, the show would not be on the air.”
Takei added that he pushed the production team to reconsider and create a new, fresh character who was queer.
We disagree. We think it's great that the writers made young Sulu gay. If only they had made him a nudist as well!