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George Takei Once Asked Gene Roddenberry Why Star Trek Wasn’t More Gay-Inclusive. His Answer May Surprise You
In a new video for Big Think, gay icon George Takei shares the story of asking Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry why the 1960s sci-fi show couldn’t be more gay-inclusive.
“I did very privately bring up the issue of gays and lesbians. And he was certainly, as a sophisticated man, mindful of that, but he said – in one episode we had a biracial kiss, Captain Kirk and Uhura had a kiss. That show was literally blacked out in the south, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia didn’t air that; our ratings plummeted. It was the lowest rated episode that we had. And he said, “I’m treading a fine tight wire here. I’m dealing with issues of the time. I’m dealing with the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and I need to be able to make that statement by staying on the air.” He said, “If I dealt with that issue I wouldn’t be able to deal with any issue because I would be canceled.” And I understood that because I was still closeted at that time. I talked to him as a liberal rather than as a gay man and I understood his position on that. So that’s the way Star Trek envisioned our future in the 23rd century, but I think we’re getting closer to that utopian society that Gene Roddenberry visualized, much more rapidly than even the technology.”
The post George Takei Once Asked Gene Roddenberry Why Star Trek Wasn’t More Gay-Inclusive. His Answer May Surprise You appeared first on Towleroad.
Kyler Geoffroy
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