Well actually, it was actor George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu on Star Trek, who revealed in an interview that he is gay. As far as I know, Mr. Sulu is straight. Now that said, let’s go off on a fun tangent!
In the original series episode, "Mirror Mirror", Captain Kirk and the landing party find themselves in an alternate universe due to a transporter malfunction. In this mirror universe, their counterparts are essentially barbaric opposites to our peace loving, noble crew. The mirror universe Sulu is particularly aggressive and in one scene leaves no doubt that he’d like to get busy with the very fine Lt. Uhura, right on the bridge…yow!
So, maybe there was more to this that meets the eye. If the mirror universe Sulu was aggressively straight, then maybe our Sulu actually is, wait for it….Nah, too easy, never mind. Besides, how would you explain Captain Kirk?
Anyhow, I must say that I am neither shocked nor surprised by this announcement because I never really thought about it. George Takei was the first Star Trek cast member I ever saw in person and one of my favorites. He’s just a really cool guy. And most recently I’ve greatly enjoyed the voice work he’s done in animated productions such as Mulan, Avatar: The Last Air Bender, and others. So I hope that his announcement won’t cause too much trouble for him. I can only imagine how painful it must have been to keep such a secret for so long. Human beings seem to have an inherent need to express themselves to each other. Denying that can only bring suffering to the soul.