You would think that in our age a character being revealed as gay wouldn't be a big deal, but then you look at controversies over gender and race in the fictional realm and perhaps it's not so surprising. However, Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek universe has always been the model of diversity, imbued with a hopefulness of a multicultural future in which things such as race, gender, and sexual orientation are no longer wedge issues to be fought over. And now Justin Lin's Star Trek Beyond is going to bring some of that forward thinking to the big screen through one of the Enterprise's most valued crew members.
John Cho revealed to the Herald Sun that Sulu will be revealed as gay in the upcoming Star Trek flick, co-written by Simon Pegg. It's a sweet top of the hat to George Takei, who had to hide his homosexuality while portraying the character in the original TV series. He has since become an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights. Sulu will be portrayed as gay and father to a daughter with his same-sex partner, but don't expect the film to shout all of this from the rafters. Cho says...
“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."
Pretty cool, and exactly what one would expect from Star Trek, the first show to dare have an interracial kiss on broadcast TV. Star Trek Beyond opens July 22nd.
