Out and proud LGBT activist and social media wizard George Takei originally played helmsman Hikaru Sulu in the 1960s Star Trek series and it's many motion picture spin offs. Now in the franchise's newest offering, Star Trek Beyond, producers will let art imitate life by making the character openly gay.
John Cho, who plays Sulu in the film, broke the news in an interview with Australia's Herald Sun.
“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 politicize one’s personal orientations,” said Cho of his character's story arc which reveals that Sulu has a same-sex partner and daughter.
"Star Trek notably showed the first interracial kiss on television back in the 60s, but there’s always been one notable missing piece from the show’s utopian view of a future society: LGBT people simply haven’t existed in the universe," LGBTQNation reports. "While the show has made a few slight insinuations that some minor characters were gay or transgender, this is the first time any characters – major or minor – have been explicitly non-heterosexual."
Takei came out publicly in October 2005 following California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger veto of a bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in the state.