George Takei on the wrath of Trump
Star Trek actor and LGBTQ activist, in Toronto June 26 for Pride, says Donald Trump’s rhetoric recalls political climate of Second World War
George Takei, the 79-year-old Star Trek actor who has answered to the name of Sulu for 50 years this September, would love to tell you he’s never seen anything like Donald Trump before. Unfortunately for the vocal Democratic supporter, Trump’s divisive politics are all too familiar.
“To characterize all Muslims as terrorists is fearmongering of the worst kind,” the actor says today, referencing the campaign policy Trump announced in December calling for a “complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”
“That’s what put Japanese-Americans into prison camps during the Second World War,” Takei says over the phone from Los Angeles, where he shares a home with his husband and partner of 29 years, Brad Altman. “We must not repeat that.”
At the age of 5, Takei (pronounced TaK) was moved with his family to an internment camp. Now 79, he travels the world lecturing on the relocation of 110,000 Japanese-Americans and 22,000 Japanese-Canadians from their homes to those makeshift camps. He juggles those engagements with his perennially popular appearances at Star Trek conventions and his ongoing LGBTQ activism, the latter of which brings him to Pride Toronto for a talk on June 26.
He’s quick to correct this reporter’s use of the term “Japanese internment camps.”
“Not Japanese internment camps,” he says. “We were American citizens. We were incarcerated by our American government in American internment camps here in the United States. The term Japanese internment camp is both grammatically and factually incorrect.
“A man like Trump echoes that in our times today,” Takei continues. “And people are terrorized right now, that is why he is getting all that support. But I like to think the majority of fair-minded Americans will not be swayed by that kind of fear-mongering.”
During the American election campaign, Takei has used his vast social media following — 723,000 followers on Instagram, 1.8 million on Twitter and nearly 10 million on Facebook — to popularize the hashtag #VoteBlueNoMatterWho, a call to unify the Democratic party against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. “It will be President Clinton,” he predicts. “Hillary! I just cannot see (Trump) as the president.”
Takei notes that he’s been a civilrights advocate throughout his life; he cites marching with Martin Luther King Jr. and campaigning for peace during the Vietnam War as two examples. Yet he didn’t lend his famous baritone voice to the LGBTQ community until 2005, when then California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed same-sex marriage legislation. “In order to protect your acting career you remain silent,” he says.
There was a hush around homosexuality in Hollywood when Takei first started acting in the ’50s.
“You sense that guy is sort of like me and you become good friends,” he recalls. “The word (gay) doesn’t come up. You like the same kind of movies. The musicals and the romantic movies.”
Yet under the surface, show business was a natural entrée to the underground gay scene. “You meet more people, particularly the wardrobe people and the makeup people, who are very gay,” he says. “You know that you can’t be an actor and be gay at the same time, or at least be out. You have to start living a very secretive life with your guard up because you can’t be exposed.”
Yet when Takei ultimately did make his private reality public, he was unprepared for the response. “I thought that (coming out) would be the beginning of the decline of my career,” he says. “And quite the opposite, it’s flowered! It’s blossomed. Totally unexpected.”
Takei’s sense of humour has been partially why he’s become a favourite personality to follow in the digital age. His Facebook news feed is a delightful scroll of quirky memes, feelgood clickbait and satirical takes on hot-button politics. While his husband and a team of interns help collect the links, the commentary, he has assured fans, is “authentically mine.”
A fan of British culture, Takei was especially pleased to see Queen Elizabeth become a trending topic in late April when she joined her grandson Prince Harry in a viral video taunting the Obamas in advance of the Invictus Games. “I think it’s charming,” he says.
Though he has developed a new fan base beyond the Starship Enterprise, his role as Sulu in the original Star Trek series and its six subsequent films remains his legacy. Carrie Fisher wrote in her 2009 memoir Wishful Drinking that when she dies a photo of Princess Leia will be on every TV.
How does Takei feel about a similar inevitability with Sulu?
“I’m proud of my relationship with Star Trek,” he says. “Star Trek is a show that I am philosophically compatible with. Gene Roddenberry continually reminded us that the Star Trek Enterprise was a metaphor for starship Earth. And the strength in this starship came from its diversity, coming together and working in concert as a team. That is the strength of our countries, Canada and the United States. We are nations of diversity.” Pride Toronto hosts An Evening with George Takei at 7 p.m. on June 26 at the Ryerson Theatre, 43 Gerrard St. E. Remaining tickets $75 to $120. See PrideToronto.com for complete details.