When George Takei Got Trumped

George Takei tried to reason with Donald Trump.

Takei, who played helmsman Hikaru Sulu in the original ’60s Star Trektelevision series — and one of the few actors of Asian heritage in a prominent and distinguished role during that era — was on the Trump-hosted television series Celebrity Apprentice in 2012. In a promotional event for the series, the actor, who came out as gay in 2005 at the age of 68, publicly asked Trump to lunch — at one of the restaurants on a Trump property — to discuss supporting gay marriage, which hadn’t become the law of the land yet.

“I fully expected him to demur because, at that time, New York City did not have marriage equality and I wanted to get him on record supporting it,” says Takei, who turns 83 in April. He said, ‘You know, George, that might make an interesting conversation. We’re on.’

“When we met for lunch some time after that the first thing he said to me was, ‘You know, George, I went to the most beautiful gay wedding, that of [theater producer] Jordan Roth and Richie Jackson.’ I told [Trump] that he should support marriage equality because his voice was so influential. But he said, ‘No no no no.’ I even told him it’s to his advantage as a businessman because everyone will want to get married at one of his properties. But he still said no, saying he believed in traditional marriage.

“Well, that stopped me because I knew he was on his third marriage and he was famously unfaithful in all three. He finally said we had to agree to disagree.”

It was the same year Trump first ran for president as a Republican. Since Trump ascended to the White House, Takei has gained even greater fame as a social activist, particularly for LGBTQ causes. He will receive New Haven’s International Festival of Arts & Ideas’ annual Visionary Leadership Award at a luncheon on Feb. 18 at the Omni New Haven Hotel. The award is presented “to a leader whose trailblazing work is impacting the world.” The next Arts & Ideas festival is scheduled for June 13-27 in New Haven. Takei’s latest endeavor, a graphic novel titled They Called Us Enemy, tells the story of his family’s imprisonment — along with 120,000 other U.S. citizens of Japanese heritage — at two internment camps for nearly four years during World War II and the traumatic after-effects of that experience when he was a boy, and for many years after. artidea.org