Star Trek Convention - 2 - George Takei
Hey again! Today was another amazing day at the con.
Our first major guest was George Takei. He was just amazing! He was gracious, entertaining, and funny! He made some quip about how he liked how they portrayed him in the new movie, but that alternate universe Sulu looks a lot like John Cho. LOL. Someone also asked a question about Proposition H8 and he was able to explain the whole deal in a way that I completely understood. I'd known about it of course, he made a statement that really resonated with me. 'There are 3 classes of people in CA - straight people with rights to marry, gay couples whose marriage is valid because they were married in a certain few months, and gay people who aren't able to get married.' (I'm paraphrasing here.) He went on to say that those on the opposing side were using false propaganda to sway the less informed that granting gay rights was going to corrupt America. (This really reminds me of a certain Star Trek fanfic... *cough* Mission to Gamus *cough*) But anyway, he got a standing ovation when he left the stage. Also, when someone congratulated George on his marriage to Brad, he received a round of applause from the audience. There were no boos whatsoever. Not one. (This made me really happy!) Trekkies really are ahead of their time. After George's speech, I really wanted to work on my K/S fic because it deals with how lame homophobia is (among other things.) My sister and I were just really inspired by George. It was an awesome experience!
Oh, funny story about George before I forget. When gay marriage was first announced as legal in CA, he and his partner of 20 years were eating lunch while watching the announcement on CNN. George said right after it was announced, he looked down and there was Brad on the floor getting on one knee! Brad then proceded to ask George to marry him, but because George had just taken a huge bite of a sandwich, he could barely get the words out 'I wanted to ask you first!' (It was funnier watching it on stage.)
Stephen Collins (Decker from TMP, also 7th Heaven Dad) and Christopher Lloyd (Klingon from SFS and Doc Brown from Back to the Future) were other great guests. Collins said that he saw Chris Pine's play and that he was fantastic in it. He went on to praise him, saying between the play and Captain Kirk, he thinks there's nothing Capt Fine can't do!! Lloyd seemed a little off to me, but he did talk a bit about how he and Michael J. Fox just happened to click, which made BTTF such a successful movie. He also said that Kirk legitimately kicked his butt in SFS, but he wished they could have a rematch.
Tomorrow the guests are ZQ and Shatnoy! I will report back on them in detail - promise. Hopefully I'll get to ask ZQ a question. *crosses fingers* And yes, I know how lucky I am. That's why I want to let everyone in on the experience since you couldn't be in Vegas.
Much love!
-Spirk out!