Tuckahoe NY Pride

George Takei is an actor and activist who has leveraged his public platform to champion both LGBTQ equality and Asian American justice. After coming out publicly in 2005, he became a prominent voice for marriage equality, anti-bullying efforts, and visibility for older LGBTQ people. Drawing on his childhood incarceration in U.S. Japanese American internment camps, he advocates for civil liberties, immigrant rights, and combating anti-Asian racism. His stage work includes Allegiance, a Broadway musical dramatizing internment and resilience. His publication They Called Us Enemy recounts that experience and urges vigilance against prejudice. Online, he uses humor to educate and mobilize.

Quote: “It’s really hard to hate someone for being different when you’re too busy laughing together.”

Photo credit Brenda Bazán