Tongue in Cheek
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Tongue in Cheek Where No Man Has Gone Before |
by Kevin Isom
There
seem to be older gay men coming gout all over the place lately. First
there was actor Tab Hunter, the Doris Day and Rock Hudson-era hunk, coming
out in his autobiography. Now we've gone more – well – galactic.
George Takei – who as Star Trek's
Mr. Sulu was part of the Starship Enterprise crew through three television
seasons beginning in 1966, and six subsequent Star Trek movies –
has come out as a gay man in Frontiers, a Los Angeles queer magazine.
"The world has changed from when
I was a young teen feeling ashamed for being gay," Takei told the
Associated Press. "The issue of gay marriage is now a political issue.
That would have been unthinkable when I was young." Takei, who is
68 years old and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1986,
said that he and his partner, Brad Altman, have been together for 18 years.
Apparently, his current role in the play "Equus" in Hollywood
inspired him to come out publicly at long last.
With all due respect to Mr. Hunter
– who by all accounts and in all the photos from his era was a total
hottie – it was the Sulu coming out that affected me the most. I
watched Star trek re-runs after school when I was growing up, and the
Enterprise crew held a cherished place in my adolescence. The relationship
between Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock was practically a gay marriage. I always
argued that Kirk and Spock were simply frustrated, because Spock's Vulcan
sex drive, the "ponfar," only kicked in once every seven years,
and that this explained Kirk's multiple heterosexual dalliances.
But what if I'd known about Sulu?
And if Takei had been able to come out in the 1960s when the show was
on the air, I wondered – how different might those episodes have
been? How different might his character have been?
Maybe there would have been something
hot, like:
Captain Kirk: "Mr. Sulu, what's our status?"
Sulu: "Hull temperature is rising, Captain. And so am I!..."
Or:
Mr. Spock: "Sulu, the 'ponfar' – the mystic Vulcan mating drive
– is causing me to act illogically. I am finding you strangely –
irresistibly – attractive."
Sulu: "Mr. Spock – your ears! I think they're getting bigger!
I can't resist you any longer, you Vulcan vixen! Come meld with me now!"
Or maybe something inspiring:
Dr. McCoy: "We are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage
of two fine men. Checkhov and Sulu – who first fell in love on Rigel
6 – have decided to recite their own vows."
Uhura: "Captain Kirk, we're getting an urgent message from StarFleet
– the Romulans are attacking an outpost in the neutral zone. They
are asking how soon we can respond!"
Kirk: "Kirk to the Bridge. Set a course for the neutral zone, maximum
warp!"
Dr. McCoy: "Dammit, Jim – I'm a doctor, not a speed reader!
We're not leaving until Sulu and Checkhov are legally married!"
That kind of episode would have made
a difference in the life of at least one lonely boy watching Star Trek
re-runs on the TV in his room after school. Then, as I watched and imagined
a place and time in the human future where the possibilities were limitless
– where a black woman could be the communications officer, a big-eared
alien could be the trusted second in command, and a Japanese and a Russian
officer worked side by side at the helm – I would also have known
that the possibilities for me were limitless as well.
Now we know that the actor who
played Sulu was gay, I can re-imagine the character as gay as well, completing
the diversity of the Enterprise crew.
Yes, George Takei publicly came out
later in life. But he did come out, and that took some courage. It was
for him, perhaps, a final frontier, and I am grateful for it.
Boldy go, Mr. Sulu. Boldly go.
Kevin Isom is the author of It Only Hurts When I Polka and Tongue in Cheek and Other Places, available at bookstores and online. He may be reached at isomonline@aol.com or www.KevinIsom.com