Takei: Roddenberry Wanted to Address Gay Issues, but was Concerned About Keeping Star Trek On the Air

George Takei has given a new interview where he describes asking Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry about addressing gay rights in The Original Series.

Speaking to PBS NewsHour, Takei explained that he’d brought up the issue but it wasn’t straightforward because he was still closeted at the time. But he described an encounter he had with Roddenberry at a party, where he broached what he called “the gay issue”. “[Gene] was having a party and we were all around the pool. Most of the people were on one end. Gene went in for a swim [...] And so I went in the pool and swam out there and I said, ‘You know, we've dealt with almost every social issue. Every civil rights, human rights issue, and the gay issue is another important one. And have you ever considered addressing that?’”

Takei recounted Roddenberry’s answer: “‘You know, you’re right, I’d like to do that.’ But he said, ‘I’m walking a tightrope.’” Takei went on to explain that Roddenberry was concerned with keeping the show on the air, especially after the controversy around the interracial kiss between Kirk and Uhura in “Plato’s Stepchildren”. Takei remembered Roddenberry saying, “I’ve got to keep the show on to tell the stories that I’m telling, which aren’t being dramatized metaphorically on any other show.”

Roddenberry, of course, had limited success in that effort; “Plato’s Stepchildren” was the 10th episode of the third - and final - season of Star Trek. And sadly, although Star Trek continues to have a reputation for progressive storylines, it would be almost another 50 years before we saw the first openly gay character as a series regular.