HUGE Mr Sulu Spoiler

[Dukhat]

None of them were conceived to be gay in 1966. Things change.

And again I have no problem with this. My point is that if anything, it's now a retcon that Sulu was always gay, since nuSulu was born before Nero's incursion (I think), so technically he's the same guy as Prime Sulu, and that I don't quite think living in a parallel universe was the cause of his homosexuality.

 

[BillJ]

...and that I don't quite think living in a parallel universe was the cause of his homosexuality

Like I said, we really didn't have anything to go on as far as Sulu's sexuality went, even in the Prime timeline. So I have no issue with retconning the character to be gay.

 

[Therin of Andor]

And before anyone suggests "well he's straight in Prime, and gay in Abramsverse" does that even make sense?

An idea: if a character is bisexual, why could he not choose one path in one timeline and the other path in another?

 

[BillJ]

I can write an alternate universe story where Kirk likes cheeseburgers. There's nothing in the Prime timeline that says he likes cheeseburgers, but nothing that really contradicts the idea either.

 

[Franklin]

It's a little interesting. "Star Trek" has finally caught up with TV shows going back to the 1970s that featured openly gay main characters. Thanks for finally catching up with reality is about all I can think.

There's certainly no reason why Sulu can't be gay and the biological father of a child. A recurring character in "Barney Miller" in the late 1970s was a gay man who had been married to a woman for years and had a son with her before realizing he was really gay, getting a divorce, and taking a male partner. He still had visitation rights to his son.

 

[Phily B]

I think it is silly, Sulu isn't gay. But it isn't a big deal.

 

[Malaika]

reading some comments I feel like some people maybe miss the point (that Cho also implied) and focus too much on the whole 'gay' 'straight' words which is itself a symptom of how much the LGBT lacks representation in hollywood. In the society where the trek characters live probably they don't even use words like 'gay' and 'straight' anyway, you literally have people from other planets who date each other... our archaic concept of sexual preference seems to be a moot point.
Sulu could have been straight in tos (or assumed straight) but this doesn't mean he can't be written as someone who is interested about men too, in this reality. The homage for Takei is appropriate in that intent because they are not making the Sulu played by him gay, they are writing the subplot for the version of the character played by a straight actor.. in the same franchise where an openly gay actor (Quinto) plays the love interest of a woman and is the one who gets the het romance (thus subverting the hollywood stereotype that thinks gay men gotta only play gay men; if I'm not wrong, Takei himself commented that) tl dr: They are not exactly writing the sexual orientation of the actors on the characters.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I am pleased with this, I'm sure many will be:

http://www.newnownext.com/mr-sulu-revealed-to-be-gay-in-star-trek-beyond/07/2016/

Fantastic!

 

[Solarbaby]

It only took 50 years and 3 centuries of space exploration to come out. Im laughing at the comments regarding Sulu's daughter.

Not everyone is inherently aware of their sexuality even until mid life. Maybe he discovered after he had a daughter. The lack of prescence in her life over a career choice might support why he didn't raise a family as he realised he was gay. Or bi? Or maybe he knew from day 1 he was gay and went ahead and had a child anyway either the natural way or with science. Just as gay men are doung nowadays. I am all for a LGBT character but I think meddling with canon in the Kelvin universe AGAIN just for the sake of including the character is a bit much for fans to swallow. However I'm just happy that Paramouny are finally embracing IDIC philosophy and joining the rest of TV land in acknowledging gays exist and love and hate etc as much as any other pigeon holed character they've tried to portray in the 23rd century

 

[Shalashaska]

I felt a great disturbance in The Force, as if millions of bigots suddenly cried out in terror.

Oh wait, wrong franchise. But seriously, I can't wait to see homophobic fanboys spinning like the blades on the Enterprise's warp nacelles at the thought of Sulu belonging to my tribe.

...no one's complaining about him gay.

I'm glad to see you're excited about this news, but posts like these are why some people are on-edge every time sexuality is brought up so that they accidentally say the wrong word and get called a "homophobic fanboy".

I guess what I mean is that Sulu as conceived in 1966 obviously wasn't meant to be gay, whether he was seen with women or not.

This ain't 1966. This is a different Sulu.

 

[Dukhat]

This ain't 1966. This is a different Sulu.

Er, yeah. That wasn't my point.

 

[m.lp.ql.m]

So, like most LGBT characters in modern American media, Sulu probably dies in this movie?

 

[jamestyler]

It's actually quite nice seeing all the positive responses online. A few arseholes - as per the tradition of the internet - but it's nice to finally see that element of diversity represented in the Trek world!

Eager to see comment from the Takei's on the news

 

[Admiral Bear]

I do hope Sulu's not banging Chekov in this movie, cos that ain't gonna end well.

 

[Mage]

I'm happy. Truly, truly happy! Star Trek is finally getting a gay character. And it should be Sulu, because of the Takei connection. I'm not always in agreement in mr Takei, but he has been a fighter for LGBTQ rights for so long now, that this deserve some recognitzion by Star Trek. Awesome news, if you ask me.

 

[timtonruben359]

I think it's a great thing!

1) Sulu's romantic life was never touched upon in the Prime Universe so it is possible Prime Sulu was also gay. His sexuality has never been cannon, it was assumed he was straight but never stated.

2) Even if the original Sulu was straight in cannon (which he isn't) by the 23rd century it's likely that humans will no longer define sexuality in such black and white terms. It could be that humanity becomes more sexuality fluid given that in Trek humans having relationships with extra terrestrials is common place I'm guessing gender of a partner wouldn't be an issue.

3) If Sulu is gay in both timelines, how do we know Demora isn't Sulu's biological daughter? It's almost a medical fact now that the sperm of two men can be grafted together so that a child would have two biological fathers, there's even some strong evidence that given genetic modification sperm could be 'mutated' into an egg that could be fertilized. Perhaps by the 23rd century this is a medical fact?

 

[BillJ]

I do hope Sulu's not banging Chekov in this movie, cos that ain't gonna end well.

Definitely not cool. That is all you could come up with? A slam that involves someone that was tragically killed.

 

[Admiral Bear]

I'm not always in agreement in mr Takei, but he has been a fighter for LGBTQ rights for so long now

Has he? Really? I don't remember ever hearing a peep out of him about gay rights until he decided he wanted to come out the closet, and that was only about 10 years ago.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I like it.

It's fascinated me for years how little we ever knew about TOS characters lives outside of Starfleet. Demora was an out of left field revelation in Generations. But it was nice to know Sulu had a personal life. This adds to that. But given this is inspired by George's own life has greater meaning.

 

[Mudd]

I think it is silly, Sulu isn't gay. But it isn't a big deal.

His sexual orientation has been unestablished previously.

Now it has.

Sulu is gay.