Major Star Trek Beyond character comes out as gay
A major Star Trek character has been revealed to be gay, according to the Herald Sun.
Hikaru Sulu, normally known as Mr. Sulu, is the helmsman of the USS Enterprise and is depicted as the father of a daughter with a same-sex partner in upcoming blockbuster instalment Star Trek Beyond.
John Cho plays Sulu in the film and while visiting Sydney with his co-stars to promote it, explained that the writers, Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, decided to make Sulu gay as a nod to George Takei who played the character in the 1960’s series.
He said: “I liked the approach, which was not to make a big thing out [of] it, which is where I hope we are going as a species, to not politicise one’s personal orientations.”
During Star Trek’s run in the 1960’s, Takei refused to come out in fear of it ruining his career, but he is now one of the world’s most prominent LGBT faces.
The event in Syndey was a somber one however, as the death of one of the film’s stars, Anton Yelchin, was still fresh in the the cast’s minds. Th 27-year-old, who played Chekhov in the films, was killed last month when he was crushed by his own car.
The cast hope that the new film will be a tribute to the late actor.
Star Trek Beyond is set for a release on July 22.
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