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 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 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.

George Takei's Sulu & Daughter Explained

Demora Sulu Daughter Star Trek

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 narratives were regularly reserved for Captain Kirk. In Star Trek: Generations Sulu's daughter, Demora Sulu (Jacqueline Kim) worked as a helmsman of the USS-Enterprise-B. Upon meeting her, iral Kirk wondered, "when did [Sulu] find the time to have a family?", a question which was echoed by many fans and Takei himself.

In the Star Trek novel, The Captain's Daughter, Sulu and his best friend Chekov went to the holiday resort of Demora. Sulu met a woman called Susan Ling and they had a one-night stand. After her death, Sulu learned that Susan gave birth to their daughter, Demora. Initially, Sulu planned on sending Demora to boarding school but ultimately decided to raise her himself. Demora was referenced in several other Star Trek novels and video games, though she and her father have never been seen together on-screen.

John Cho's Star Trek Beyond Sulu Explained

Star Trek Beyond - Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and Sulu (John Cho)

In 2005, 36 years after Star Trek: The Original Series ended, Sulu's original actor, George Takei, publicly came out as gay. Since then he has become known as a prominent LGBTQ+ activist. Wanting to honor this legacy, Simon Pegg came up with the idea of having Sulu be gay in J.J. Abram's 2016 Star Trek: Beyond. John Cho ed the idea, as did Zachary Quinto, the actor who played Spock and who publicly came out as gay in 2011.

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Sulu's husband, Ben (Doug Jung), and their daughter, were seen in the film greeting him when the Enterprise landed at the base. They later escaped from the Krall's attack and then the whole family attended Kirk's 30th birthday party together. John Cho was the one to insist that Sulu's husband also be of Asian descent, in order to address the LGBTQ+ prejudices that can be found in Asian communities.

Why Takei Was Upset That Sulu Became Gay

Sulu fencing in Star Trek: TOS.

Takei publicly disagreed with writer and Scotty actor, Simon Pegg about the plan to make Sulu gay. He said that Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, created Sulu as heterosexual and in an interview (via THR) Takei stated it was "unfortunate" that Roddenberry's vision would be changed. While he wholeheartedly ed the inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters in Star Trek, he thought a new character should be created instead of making Sulu canonically gay.

However, Pegg believed that they were honoring Roddenberry's vision. He believed that Roddenberry would have definitely wanted to explore characters with different sexual orientations, but it was too risky for him to ever do so. Star Trek: The Original Series was famous for pushing the boundaries of 1960s conservativism with its vision of a utopic future society. The show featured the first televised interracial kiss, between Captain Kirk and communications officer Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), which caused its lowest-ever ratings and risked it being taken off the air. Pegg was also wary of Takei's advice to create a new character simply to fulfill the purpose of having a gay character, as he thought that would limit the character to tokenism.

Was Sulu Gay In The Wider Star Trek Canon?

Star Trek The Animated Series Sulu Bones

Outside of the TV series and films, Sulu's career advancement received more development than his personal life, so there were rarely any direct references to his sexuality. The fact that his daughter existed in many of the novels and games doesn't preclude the possibility that Sulu might be gay. In the video game Star Trek: Starship Creator, Sulu married a woman named Yoshika, but even this doesn't mean the character is heterosexual.

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Both George Takei's continued involvement in the Star Trek world and the important representation created by John Cho's Sulu have contributed to a more diverse franchise. Despite the fact that there's not as much clarity around Sulu's sexuality as there could be, it would be wrong to call Sulu's characterization inconsistent because of this. Since Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek: The Original Series and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek exist on different timelines, it's possible to say that both a straight Sulu and a gay Sulu exist as part of the multiverse's canon. With the fourth Star Trek movie currently under development, many fans hope to see more exploration of Sulu's sexuality and his family life.

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