Interview with George Takei and Brad Altman

AE: You guys are on the ground there in California. What’s your sense about the ballot initiative? Is it going to pass?
GT: Well, the latest – polls are volatile and they change, but the latest polling is very favorable. 51% support same-sex marriage and something like 42% oppose it. It’s going to be close and it’s going to be intense and it’s going to be vitriolic, but I think the more people get married and the more straight people who get exposed to same-sex relationships, then they start realizing that we are all over and we are making contributions to society. Then those opponents will then look like they are mean-spirited, taking away something that is beautiful.

BA: I always find it funny when you hear like same-sex marriages are going to destroy traditional marriage. Look at George and me for example. We’ve been together more than 21 years, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad times. We are a well-established couple. I look at us, and then you look at marriage in general and you see the divorce rate – and then look at George and my long-term relationship and I say my goodness, we represent stability in marriage. We’ll strengthen the institution of marriage.

Photo credit: Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

AE: Absolutely. My partner and I relocated to help his dad take care of his mom with Alzheimer’s. Gay people make sacrifices like that all the time.
GT: Well, Brad did the very same thing for me. My mother got Alzheimer’s and I guess you know the various stages of that horrible disease. We moved her in with us for the last four years of her life. Brad was really a saint. He helped me in so many incredible ways. And I am deeply grateful to him.

BA: And that’s a good point because no matter what happens in November, and I’m optimistic that the voters in California will make the right decision because it’s really about fairness and equality and treating people the same. But George’s and my relationship is going to continue to be live long and prosper beyond November. But it is really an opportunity for California to send a message to the rest of the country … that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people are ready to take the responsibility of marriage. In the olden days, the anti-gay people said that we were promiscuous and couldn’t have a relationship because we were shallow people and now we’re saying let us have the responsibility of marriage and now they’re arguing that we’re going to destroy marriage. We can’t win!

GT: I think marriage is defined not as a union between a man and a woman but by a relationship bound by love. It’s love that defines marriage, not man and a woman.

AE: Given your stature, George, and with a guest list including your Star Trek co-stars Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols and Leonard Nimoy, your ceremony is probably going to be the first really high-profile gay marriage in the U.S. I’m curious if you are thinking about that or are prepared for that kind of attention? Is the press going to be invited? Are your wedding pictures going to appear in People Magazine?
GT: Well, the wedding is going to be a personal and private affair. We want it to be family and close, dear friends. However, we are mindful of the context in which we are getting married. We’ve chosen as our venue the Democracy Forum of the Japanese American National Museum. The Museum is a three-building complex and the Democracy Forum is the newest of the three buildings. And we love the idea that our union will be in the forum of democracy!

And yes, we will be sharing our marriage after the fact. The wedding ceremony itself will be private, but we will be sharing photos and we’ll be doing interviews like we’re doing with you right now. Post- and pre-wedding.

AE: Where can folks expect to see wedding photos, because that is going to be a very exciting moment.
BA: The truth is we haven’t worked out those details! However, I will say this: our email has been exploding with – first of all, best wishes, but also the typical let me plan your wedding, let me do the catering –

GT: And fans offering themselves up as witnesses, and asking for an invitation.

BA: On Tuesday, June 17^th in the morning in the city of West Hollywood, George and I are going to be receiving our marriage license from the county court. Then our actual marriage ceremony is in September. A lot of same-gender couples are going to get married on June 17^th in civil ceremonies or whatever, but because we are planning a real big, major wedding with all the hoopla, we need more time to plan.

GT: Well, not hoopla. It’s going to be a private affair.

BA: By hoopla, I meant in terms of – I don’t mean hoopla in terms of public hoopla. It’s going to be real fun.

GT: The ceremony itself will take place in the Democracy Forum. Then there’s the plaza between the Democracy Forum and the main building of the Museum, the Pavilion building. And in that building is the Grand Hall, which is called Aratani Hall, and so a bagpiper will lead us from the Democracy Forum across the plaza to the Pavilion building where we’ll have the reception in the foyer and then the dinner in the Aratani Hall. We’ll have entertainment and Walter and Nichelle will be the MCs and it’ll be a happy, joyous, celebratory affair.

George and Brad with their license

Next page! Mr. Chekhov gets the gay thing!