George Takei

George Takei in 2011

George Hosato Takei (born April 20, 1937) is an American actor of Japanese decent. He is best known for playing the role of Mr. Sulu in the television series Star Trek (1966–1969) and the films which followed.

Quotes

2008

• I've been working with Bill Shatner yea these 40-plus years. He never seems to get it right. I gave him, "It's Takei, as in way." I even said, "as in gay"… I told him, "It's Takei, rhymes with toupee." I thought that would do it.
  • Quoted in Doug Elfman, "Takei celebrates legacy of diversity," Las Vegas Review-Journal (August 12, 2008)
  • Describing how he advised William Shatner, who reportedly could never pronounce his name correctly, how to say it aloud.

2011

• A bill recently approved by a Tennessee Senate committee would prohibit teachers in that state from discussing homosexuality in the classroom. The so-called "Don't Say Gay" law is premised on the misguided belief that by not talking about gay people, they can simply make us disappear. I'm here to tell Tennessee and all LGBT youth and teachers who would be affected by this law that I am here for you. In fact, I am lending my name to the cause. Anytime you need to say the word "gay", you can simply say "Takei". For example, you could safely proclaim you are a supporter of Takei marriage. If you're in a more festive mood, you can march in a Takei pride parade. Even homophobic slurs don't seem as hurtful if someone says "That is soooo Takei", and around the holidays, you can sing "Don we now our Takei apparel!".
  • George Takei vs. Tennessee's "Don't Say Gay" Bill, YouTube, 19 May 2011, retrieved on May 20, 2011 
  • Regarding the Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee passing state senator Stacey Campfield's bill SB49 which bans mentioning homosexuality in public schools prior to ninth grade.

2015

• He is a clown in blackface sitting on the Supreme Court. He gets me that angry. He doesn't belong there. And for him to say, slaves have dignity. I mean, doesn't he know that slaves were in chains? That they were whipped on the back. If he saw the movie 12 Years as a Slave, you know, they were raped. And he says they had dignity as slaves or— My parents lost everything that they worked for, in the middle of their lives, in their thirties. His business, my father's business, our home, our freedom and we're supposed to call that dignified? Marched out of our homes at gun point. I mean, this man does not belong on the Supreme Court. He is an embarrassment. He is a disgrace to America.
  • Fox 10 News (Phoenix) interview, June 30, 2015
  • regarding Clarence Thomas writing "Slaves did not lose their dignity (any more than they lost their humanity) because the government allowed them to be enslaved. Those held in internment camps did not lose their dignity because the government confined them." in his Obergefell v. Hodges dissent, June 26, 2015.

External links

• Encyclopedic article on George Takei on Wikipedia
• Media related to George Takei on Wikimedia Commons
• Official website