Anyone with a Twitter account should be following George Takei, who famously played Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek, and yet of the millions of people Tweeting, only 170,000 are following him. He’s one of the few celebrities using the social networking media as a means of communicating with his fans for actual good purposes. And while most of us would agree that making fun of Donald Trump is always the best purpose, Takei has, more notably, been taking on the state of Tennessee with his “It’s OK to be Takei” campaign.
Without getting too in-depth with the political mumbo-jumbo, people are talking a lot about the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and the man behind this law, Tennessee Senator Stacey Campfield, as he has been vocal about removing any discussion of homosexuality, including the use of the word gay, from Tennessee public middle and high schools because he believes that it should be up to families to educate their children about homosexuality. Campfield argues that his “neutral” bill enforces anti-bullying laws that protect homosexual teenagers, as well as heterosexual teens, as he claims that previous laws favored the former over the latter.
But while people bicker over both sides of this bill, Takei has offered up a simpler solution – instead of gay, say Takei. For instance, instead of “That mesh leather shirt makes you look gay”, you would say, “That mesh leather shirt makes you look Takei.” It’s a pretty basic idea that manages to add positive light – and a ton of publicity – to an otherwise ugly political debate. After the jump, you can watch Takei’s response to Tennessee’s new law, as well as his 2010 PSA regarding an anti-gay Arkansas school board member, and then bask in his recent general hilarity.