It's OK to be Takei

     This afternoon, I watched a special screening of the film To Be Takei.

Takei is a Hollywood icon and political activist. From the film, I learned that he is a gay, and he has been fighting for equal rights for gays since 2005.

“It’s OK to be Takei” is a line from the film, which implies that it’s OK to be a gay. This reminds me of the heated debate we had in Tuesday class. In that class, when talking of a girl student who told her classmates that she was a gay, some said that to be a gay was immoral. They argued that to be a gay brought shame, burden and humiliation to the family; therefore, it was immoral to be a gay.

       I am on the other side of the debate, i.e., I disagree that to be a gay is immoral. A gay might make his/her family feel ashamed or humiliated because gays are in the minority. But it does not follow that to be a gay is immoral. Research findings show that homosexuality is mostly inborn. As Takai said in the film, to be a gay is an orientation, not a lifestyle. Hence, it is unfair for us to say that to be a gay is immoral.

Takei as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu

Takei at the 2013 Florida SuperCon.