Last week, beloved Star Trek actor George Takei made a rare public appearance in Los Angeles, accompanied by his longtime partner, Brad Altman.
The 88-year-old was spotted using a walking stick for assistance, while holding tightly to the hand of his 72-year-old husband as they made their way through the city.
Takei, an enduring advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, opted for a relaxed look, wearing sweats and an anorak. At one point, he affectionately linked arms with Altman, his partner since 1985.
In contrast, Altman chose a more polished ensemble, donning a purple button-down shirt neatly tucked into jeans, complemented by a camel-colored blazer.
The couple, who made history as the first same-sex pair to request a marriage license in West Hollywood, radiated happiness as they enjoyed their sunlit stroll.
This outing follows Takei’s sharing of the secret behind their enduring relationship, which saw them tie the knot in 2008, nearly two years ago.
Star Trek icon George Takei surfaced last week in Los Angeles in a rare public sighting with his longtime husband Brad Altman
‘He keeps me laughing and he keeps me getting angry. I think it’s sharing these emotions,’ Takei said, acknowledging they are ‘opposites,’ via People.
‘Brad is a strict disciplinarian. Brad is detail-oriented, he’s organized and he brings that detail and organization to my life so that I can do what I do.’
By way of example, he offered that Altman will demand they ‘leave the apartment in five minutes’ at a point ‘about 20 minutes before I need to leave.’
He explained the discrepancy, saying: ‘We understand each other. When he’s giving me only five minutes, I know we have 20 minutes.’
The two men first met when they were part of a gay running club in the 1980s and Takei noticed the ‘dashingly good-looking’ Altman, he told Variety.
Altman pointed out that for the first two decades of their relationship, he ‘was never identified publicly as George’s boyfriend or partner.’
Takei, a Japanese American who spent part of his childhood in a US internment camp during World War II, had already been a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War but remained mum on the subject of his own sexual orientation.
‘I was silent, and it was totally against my character,’ said Takei. ‘The one cause that was the most personal to me, I had to stay quiet on because I wanted my career.’
The 88-year-old actor was seen leaning on a walking stick and clasping his 72-year-old spouse’s hand for support as he hobbled along on his way
Dressed comfortably in sweats and an anorak, the longtime gay rights activist at one point linked arms with Altman, whom he has been with since 1985
The two men first met when they were part of a gay running club in the 1980s and Takei noticed the ‘dashingly good-looking’ Altman, he told Variety; pictured 2008
Altman pointed out that for the first two decades of their relationship, he ‘was never identified publicly as George’s boyfriend or partner’; pictured 2015
The veil of silence was torn open when Takei announced his relationship to Altman in 2005 in an interview for the gay magazine Frontiers.
While Trekkies had been more or less aware of his homosexuality for decades, the declaration of his romance was his official coming out to the general public.
Three years later, when gay marriage was briefly legalized and then rapidly banned again in California, Takei and Altman seized the opportunity to exchange vows.
‘We were married at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles at the Democracy Forum venue,’ Altman remembered.
Their wedding party contained two of Takei’s iconic Star Trek co-stars – Walter Koenig, known to fans as Chekov, was the best man, while Nichelle Nichols, who won the hearts of viewers as Uhura, served as ‘best lady.’
