John Cho's Sulu Comes Out
Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 10:30PM 
In a fun bit of refreshing happy news, it has been revealed that John Cho's Sulu will be gay in the upcoming Star Trek Beyond. What a heartwarming nod to the series's original Sulu George Takei, who has been one of the loudest and proudest out performers advocating for LGBT rights for some time.
This is also a welcome alternative to the after-the-fact revisionism granted to franchise icons like Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series, though Takei himself disagrees. But Sulu hasn't previously had any romantic backstory in the canon, so any grousing of opportunistic pandering isn't quite fair either. Reintroducing the character as gay without a "might be" or "actually was" asterix is something else entirely while the series is running, especially without definitively being drawn as straight in his history.
The reported nonchalant introduction of Sulu's same-gender partner is a hopeful sign that gay visability in mass entertainment to moving toward characters that that don't shy from queerness but don't require it to solely define them. Cho commented on the reveal:
I liked the approach, which was not to make a big thing out it, which is where I hope we are going as a species, to not politicise one’s personal orientations...
While the unfortunate obvious truth is that we are not at that point with LGBT acceptance, having a beloved character who now happens to be gay is a necessary step towards wider visibility that has been missing in franchise entertainment.
This is a step in the right direction for franchise entertainment as a whole, but one that seems long delayed for the historically progressive series. Toss in that original Rihanna track and Beyond is starting to look like a gay old time at the movies - but Sulu, honey, you're supposed to come out during Pride month, not after!
Do you find Sulu's outing exciting or revisionist?
Reader Comments (23)
Sulu has a biological daughter in the official canon via Star Trek Generations (1994). Since the reboot theatrical series is an alternate take on the original crew it is acceptable to have a gay Sulu as is a blue eyed Kirk as well as Spock and Uhura as a couple.
I am very pleased to see them taking this step, should have happened earlier but, Sulu with a partner on board is great news.
It's excellent news despite how George Takei feels about it. Just when I thought John Cho couldn't get any hotter...
If anyone has a right to voice his opinion on this, it's Takei, but yeah no. I'm happy for this development. Now let's GAY IT UP for the next movie.
I haven't watched much original Star Trek, but I think this is great - and John Cho is charismatic/funny/talented enough to deserve more fame than he has.
Also is Cho some kind of ageless angel/monster? It floors me to learn he is 44.
Wrote my response before reading Takei's stance on the matter. Disappointed he feels gutted by the revision of the character. It boils down to him as a gay actor wanting to hold onto the heterosexual legacy of a role he originated and is rightfully proud of. This is an alternate universe for these characters. Deviations from the original actors and series are okay for a new interpretation of things. Annoyed they kept Sulu's daughter since I can only imagine her conceived the old fashion way. The way most gay people actually come into this world way. But they wanted to make things pat in the new movies.
/3rtful, gay men can have biological daughters. Surrogacy has existed for a while now.
Unecessary in the Trek universe.It's not a soap opera.
This shouldn't even be a story honestly. We would never hear a story like "In the next Star Trek movie, Kirk gets a love interest. And she's a woman!" But I guess Takei said something and now it has become a bigger deal? Regardless, I like Cho. The previous movies were good. Bring on the next one!
Inclusiveness is all well and good but sometimes it gets into things where really it's highly unnecessary.
I don't care, because I won't see this film. I detested the two Trek reboot films, which from my POV completely derailed what Trek is about in the first place.
For the record, I am an original Trekker - I watched from the very first broadcast in 1966. I wrote a letter to NBC to save the show in 1968. I attended the earliest cons. I faithfully followed all the Trek films and series until they petered out with Enterprise and Nemesis. I am one of The Old Ones, The Ones Who Made Us. The Trek franchise wouldn't exist without guys like me.
So okay, I'm in my 60s, and the folks in charge of new Trek don't remotely care about me, my goodwill, or most importantly, my box office bucks...
If you want a Trek that ignores the first 600 hours of continuity, fine. If you want a Trek where blind luck and cult of personality are how you get to be a starship captain, rather than Starfleet as an altruistic meritocracy, fine. If you want dumb action, ugly production design, one-dimensional characters played by pretty people, no interest in scientific believability, etc., enjoy. I prefer Trek to be SF about deep-space exploration with dramatic presentations of real-world issues disguised by different-forehead aliens.
So anyway, in response to the franchise ignoring the old Trek timeline that I spent my whole life following, I choose to ignore the new Trek timeline and the brain-dead action series it's become.
The sad fact of today's entertainment world: If you live long enough, you get to see everything you love remade... badly.
I didn't care for the first reboot and never saw the sequel, but I might actually drag myself to this one. Shoreh Aghdashloo narrating the commercials helps, and this seems like a nice thing to check out. Takei may not care for it - and I sorta see his point, in that we shouldn't have to make characters gay that had never been written that way, rather new characters should be written that way from the get go - but it's a nice movement for a major blockbuster. I wonder if whatever Cho and his partner do is as out of place as the out-of-the-blue gay romance in INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE.
/3rtful - the daughter is actually going to be a part of the film as well
mark - I understand the sentiment, but unfortunately broader visibility is still quite necessary in entertainment meant for the masses.
I certainly disagree with Takei on this one but some of the ageism and vitriol I've seen lobbed at him online has been gross. We can still be excited for the character AND politely disagree with the man who originated him.
I don't get why Takei got mad. I think this does great things for LGBTQ visibility. This movies have always been about showing a diverse crew, and this fits right with the theme. Sulu was more assexual than any sexual in the past anyway.
The charcter evolved with times, it's not a dusty old thing, it needs to embrace the now and this kind of representation is a great thing, and still soooo necessary. Bravo for the Star Trek people for actually having this be on the actual movie, and not a footnote that don't actually is seen in the actual thing.
Why is Takey and the commentator mark being such dickheads?
E se chorar, todo mundo vai ser gay no próximo!!!
/3rtful, gay men can have biological daughters. Surrogacy has existed for a while now. My point was the implication before was heterosexual intercourse.
/3rtful - the daughter is actually going to be a part of the film as well
Which I find annoying if you're going through the trouble of making the character gay. With Star Trek Generations they made sure to cast an Asian actress in the role of his daughter. Which implies to me a heterosexual conception.
Chris, thanks for the smart commentary on this. I personally think Takei's reaction is graceless. Even if he disagrees, that opinion is better expressed among his friends and relatives. Publicly, it's far more classy for him to simply say thank you and take the high road. I personally think he responded that way because it gets him more (and "better") press. I'd argue further that he's not a particularly good model for LGBT as he didn't come out publicly until he was in his late 60s, but now he certainly seems to have a very public opinion on these things. Yes, Operation SuluHomo may be ill-timed, but it came from the best intentions and is a cool move forward in a larger stretch, and Takei's public reaction on it is dubious.
Just rewatched Harold and Kumar Goes to White Castle. Damn, that holds up. Nobody does nerdsexy like John Cho.
@Mark - it's when inclusivity is supposedly "unnecessary" that it's actually the most necessary, the most useful, the most powerful.
Doctor Strange, on behalf of my best friend, who's just a few years younger than you, Thank You for all of your work in saving "Star Trek".
One of the message of the show was positivity in humanity, so bring on the Gays!
"Which implies to me a heterosexual conception."
Plenty of men have children through heterosexual intercourse. Some men come out later in life, or some men donate their sperm, or some men have a one-night fling, or... or... or... etc
I have a gay uncle who married my aunt and conceived my older cousin. I have a friend who is flaming and has a biological daughter through a relationship he had with a woman. I don't know any black person who has gone the alternate path to creating life.