George Takei: Gay Sulu in new Star Trek Beyond is 'really unfortunate'

When the new movieStar Trek Beyond hits theatres July 22nd, itwill portray Sulu as a gay character -- a move that pits original cast memberGeorge Takeifrom the 1960s TV series firmlyagainst the creators of the current film reboot.

This will mark thefirst time the franchise has portrayed an openly gay character,but it's a move that actor George Takei, who played the character in the originaltelevision series, isn't actuallyhappy about.

Takei revealed in 2005 that he is gayand despite his years of silence before that, he has been a vocal and popular LGBTrights activist ever since.

It was actually with Takeiin mind that the film'screators gaveanew sexual orientation tothe character of Sulu,played byactor John Cho,partly as a way tohonour Takei,and alsoto get with the zeitgeist, andshowcase diversity and tolerance in the franchise.

It was Cho who first told Takeithat a scene had been included to show thatSulu was gay.

Takeisuggested thatintroducinga newgay character,rather than havingSulusuddenly being revealedas gay would make more sense artistically in terms of a consistent depiction of the character.

When director Justin Lin and co-writer Simon Pegg bothfollowed up withTakeidirectly to try to gethim on board withtheirdecision toshowSuluin a relationshipwith a male partner, Takei thought his objections had beenheard.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter,Takeisays that whilehe's "delighted that there's a gay character, unfortunately, it's a twisting of Gene's creation, to which he put in so much thought. I think it's really unfortunate."

It may seem odd at first blush to assumethat Roddenberry, the creator of theTV seriesthat famously broke socialbarriersin the 1960s, would be unhappy about the depiction of a gay character in the Star Trek franchise.

After all, thiswas the first American TV show to depictan interracial kiss, between Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura, but even featuringa black actress in a lead role was met with outrage in 1968 when that episode aired.

Roddenberrywasprogressivein his attitude about the need forracial tolerance,publicly statingthat the main theme of the series was the need for "tolerance for difference."

So while Roddenberrywas willing to push boundaries in an era of real racial tension, his reluctance to be an advocate for gay rights as well,needs to be understood in context.

Takeitold The Hollywood Reporter that he suggested to Roddenberry back in 1968 thatthey tackle the subject of sexual equalityin the series,and that while Roddenberry was "a strong supporterof LGBT equality" he felt that if he"pushed too hard, the show would not be on the air."

Thatconcern was prescient.

NBC affiliates declined to air Star Trek's'interracial kiss' episode in the SouthernU.S., resulting in unprecedentedlow ratings, and in fact, the serieswas cancelled outright the next season.

Flash forward to the present withTakei finding out just a month ago thatthe show wouldindeed go on, despite his objections, with a gay Sulu.

Simon Peggresponded to Takei's concerns onFriday,telling TheGuardian newspaper in Britain,that while he has immense respect for the actor,he "must respectfully disagree" with him.

He insists Roddenberry didn't take on gay themes because he couldn't, not because he didn't want to.

Pegg says introducing a new gay character would amount to tokenism, because"they would be defined by their sexuality, seen as the 'gay character', rather than simply for who they are."

And Star Trek Beyondstar Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock,is standing by Pegg today, saying that "as a member of the LGBT community myself, I was disappointed"withTakei's response.

Quintotold Pedestrian.TV he hopes George will be inspired by "this really tasteful and beautiful portrayal of something that I think is gaining acceptance and inclusion in our societies across the world, and should be."