Running from 1966 to 1969, Star Trek: The Original Series was one of the most progressive TV shows of its time, and is still fondly looked back on for the way it explored many political and social topics. However, the sci-fi TV show never delved into LGBTQ issues during its three-season run. According to George Takei, this wasn’t due to a lack of interest from TOS creator Gene Roddenberry, but rather because he was concerned about it would impact the series’ run.
Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek: The Original Series, the six TOS movies and an episode of Star Trek: Voyager (all of which can be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription), chatted about this on The Sackhoff Show. The actor, who came out as gay in 2005, recalled how one day, he was swimming in the pool at Gene Roddenberry’s house and told the man who brought Star Trek to the masses how much he admired that the show was touching on subjects like the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. Takei then asked if Roddenberry would consider exploring LGBT equality on TOS, and here’s how the rest of the conversation went:
