SIMON PEGG, the “Star Trek Beyond” actor and co-writer, responded to Takei’s remarks about making his old character openly gay.

    Pegg has added his voice to the debate regarding the sexuality of Hikaru Sulu in “Star Trek Beyond.”

    The actor, who stars as Scotty and also co-wrote the latest addition to the sci-fi franchise, responded to remarks by George Takei, who criticized the decision to make his character Sulu openly gay.

    “I have huge love and respect for George Takei, his heart, courage and humor are an inspiration,” Pegg wrote in a statement issued Friday. “However, with regards to his thoughts on our Sulu, I must respectfully disagree with him.”

    A scene in the upcoming film plainly presents Sulu, played by John Cho, with a male spouse raising an infant daughter. Highlighting the sexuality of the USS Enterprise helmsman was actually the idea of Pegg and director Justin Lin, both of whom wanted to pay respect to Takei’s legacy as a sci-fi icon and LGBT activist.

    But Takei, who came out in 2005, called the decision “unfortunate.” The 79-year-old actor said that he didn’t like the character being altered. Takei instead urged the filmmakers to create a new gay character.

    “He’s right, it is unfortunate, it’s unfortunate that the screen version of the most inclusive, tolerant universe in science fiction hasn’t featured an LGBT character until now,” added Pegg. “We could have introduced a new gay character, but he or she would have been primarily defined by their sexuality, seen as the ‘gay character,’ rather than simply for who they are, and isn’t that tokenism?”

    Pegg said that he, Lin and Doug Jung “loved” the idea of the gay character being someone already known, ensuring that the audience already had a “pre-existing opinion” of them as a “human being,” and therefore were hopefully unaffected by any prejudice.

    “Their sexual orientation is just one of many personal aspects, not the defining characteristic,” he added. “Also, the audience would infer that there has been an LGBT presence in the “Trek” universe from the beginning, that a gay hero isn’t something new or strange. It’s also important to note that at no point do we suggest that our Sulu was ever closeted, why would he need to be? It’s just hasn’t come up before.”(SD-Agencies)