Geoge Takei: Why I Stayed Closeted So Long [AUDIO]

Michelangelo Signorile writes at the Huffington Post:



George Takei, currently starring in the Broadway musical “Allegiance,” inspired by his own family’s struggles as Japanese-Americans who were interned during World War II, opened up about the enormous conflict he felt early on in his career being gay but remaining closeted. It wasn’t until 2005 that the legendary actor who played Sulu in the original 1960s’ “Star Trek” series came out.

“My father told me about American democracy,” he said in an interview with me on SiriusXM Progress. “And he said you have to be actively engaged in the political process to make our democracy work. So I’ve been doing that my entire life. Civil rights movement. The peace movement during the Viet Nam conflict. The movement to get an apology and redress for Japanese-Americans. But I was silent on that one issue that was closest to me.”

Takei said he watched the career of closeted gay Hollywood heartthrob Tab Hunter, whose life was the subject of the recent documentary, “Tab Hunter Confidential,” quickly unravel after he was targeted with innuendo by a tabloid in the 1950s. That, he said, instilled him with intense fear as a teenager.