Star Trek's George Takei Speaks at FSU

George Takei as Sulu on Star Trek.

His farewell at FSU Ruby Diamond Auditorium last night.

The last minute of his speech. Pronounce his name George Ta-KAY.

It was 7 o'clock last night and Lulu was in her office working on an online course - live. She was only 30 feet away from me - but when class is going on - no one is allowed to interrupt. All of a sudden I got an email from her saying - George Takei is speaking at FSU at 8.

I quickly showered and hopped on my scooter. I rushed into the auditorium to find the place crowded. I found a single seat in the sixth row - right in front of the podium. For the next 30 minutes I played with my iPhone listening to the students' conversation around me. At 8 - it was show time.

George Takei is famous for playing Sulu on Star Trek.

George was 5 years old when after the Pearl Harbor attack - all the Japanese-Americans from the west coast were herded into internment camps. He spent most of the war in a camp in the swamps of Arkansas. After the war he attended school in Los Angeles. He later got advanced degrees in acting at UCLA. He played several bit parts in movies and television before he got his big break on Star Trek.

I was an earth and space science teacher for 33 years - but never had interest in Star Trek. There were tons of Trekkies in my generation that enjoyed that stuff and took the TV show and movies very seriously.

After Star Trek - Takei became politically active - running for many local office in Southern California. For years - you did not hear much about him. Then in the 1990s - he went on The Howard Stern Radio Show. He became an activist for gay rights - coming out and eventually marrying his partner of 18 years. Howard loved his very distinct speaking voice and also his gay comedy. His career took off again.

100 nights a year he does speaking engagements with topics of prejudice - gay rights - and same sex marriage.

Last night George was very entertaining. He talked for 45 minutes of his time in the internment camp - his times on the show - racial discrimination - and finally gay issues. After that - he answered questions for 45 more minutes.

Tallahassee has a strong gay committee. The downstairs portion of Ruby Diamond Auditorium was packed with a strong delegation of the gay community included. Takei is a very good public speaker - enjoys making fun of himself - and humorously speaks about prejudice. He compares the way things were when he was a boy and how things are now.

Goerge Takei married his 18 year partner in California during the short period that the law allowed gay marriages there. There are 7 states where gay marriage is legal right now. California is no longer one of them.