Badass Birthday
On this date in 1937, George Takei was born in Los Angeles.
Yes, he's had a long and varied acting career, but really his badassedness is shown just by his iconic role as Lt. (later Captain) Hikaru Sulu on the Star Trek franchise. And come on, how badass was it to be an Asian actor and have a role like he did? Much like Nichelle Nichols as a black woman in a position of respect and power, here was an Asian man doing the same. And 60 years ago, that was some pretty impressive shit.
He's a badass to me on a personal level for being an out and unapologetically gay actor. Granted, he didn't publicly come out until later in life, but once California overturned the gay marriage law in their state he and his husband Brad came out and worked tirelessly to get that changed. And they're since been outspoken advocates for gay rights.
Plus, I had the honor of seeing him in person a few years ago, where he stood on stage (stood, at over 80 years old for over an hour) and talked about his life and his projects and works and stuff. Especially poignant when he talked about his time in a concentration camp here in the US during World War II. Dark stuff. I imagine 70 years or so from now, there will be people of Latino descent giving similar speeches about being a concentration camp now. But that's a topic for another time.
George Takei, actor, gay icon and total badass.
POLT
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