Has Star Trek's Sulu Always Been Gay? It's Complicated
Hikaru Sulu is now known as the first openly gay character in Star Trek, but the character's sexuality hasn't always been so clear-cut. Sulu's romantic and family life have received different portrayals across the Star Trek canon, causing his sexuality to be a point of contention amongst audiences and cast members alike. Star Trek has always been known for being a progressive and inclusive franchise, so it's important to have some clarity when it comes to how sexuality is depicted, especially when it comes to a character as well-loved as Sulu.
Sulu first appeared as the swashbuckling helmsman who was part of Captain Kirk's (William Shatner) bridge crew in Star Trek: The Original Series. Played by George Takei, Sulu was an important source of Asian-American on-screen representation in the 1960s. Takei's Sulu remained part of the Star Trek franchise for three seasons and six movies.
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In 2009, J.J. Abrams made Star Trek, the first in a series of alternate timeline films following the characters from Star Trek: The Original Series. In these films, Sulu is portrayed by John Cho. Cho has said that his only hope going into playing Sulu was to deepen the character's emotional life. For the writers of Star Trek: Beyond, Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, this meant offering an insight into Sulu's sexuality in a way that Star Trek: The Original Series never did.
In Star Trek: The Original Series there were a few episodes where Sulu was shown to have female love interests including an implied attraction to Lieutenant Uhura, which never amounted to anything. However because Sulu's character was often side-lined, his romantic life was never a main plot point as those
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