"Star Trek Beyond" is going to portray Hikaru Sulu as gay in the upcoming movie and actor John Cho discussed details about the matter.
E! News reported that Hikaru Sulu is a main character and this will be the first time ever that a character on "Star Tre" would be portrayed as an LGBT character. Accordingly, Hikaru Sulu will even be seen having a same-sex relationship and it will be shown in the upcoming movie. He and his partner will be seen being parents to a daughter.
Cho shared in an interview that was published on the Australian newspaper The Herald Sun that director Justin Lin and co-writer and co-star Simon Pegg that they made the decision to make Hikaru Sulu be represented as a gay character in "Star Trek Beyond" as it was a nod to George Takei. Cho added that he hopes the character will show that the times are now changing.
Takei has come out as gay back in 2005 and is not married to a man. Takei played the role of Hikaru Su in the original "Star Trek" series and movies. Since ending being part of the series and the movies, he has become a prominent LGBT activist but has kept his sexuality hidden during the entirety of filming "Star Trek."
Cho added, "I liked the approach, which was not to make a big thing out [of] it, which is where I hope we are going as a species, to not politicize one's personal orientations." In the first movies of "Star Trek," the partners of Hikaru Sulu were never shown. However, in the 1994 flick "Star Trek Generations," his daughter Demora was seen as an adult.
There are many minor characters who are members of the LGBT in the "Star Trek" novels as well as comic books. Androgynous species were also introduced on "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
"Star Trek Beyond" will be out in theaters this July 22. The movie also stars Chris Pine, Idris Elba, Karl Urban, Zachary Quinton, and Zoe Saldana. Anton Yelchin is also seen in the movie but he died in a freak accident last month.
