Happy Birthday, George Takei! 10 of His Most Profound Quotes on Love and Equality

Ohh, myyyy—George Takei is turning 80! The actor, activist and social media guru celebrates his milestone birthday on April 20, 2017.

Takei has been a pioneering force in basically every area of his life. Playing the capable, nuanced Captain Sulu in the original Star Trek series, he fought the racist stereotypes that limited Asian-American actors at the time.

As a survivor of a Japanese internment camp as a child, Takei has made it his life’s mission to make Americans more aware of internment, and to ensure that such a human rights travesty never happens again in the U.S. He recently created and starred in Allegiance, a Broadway musical about his own internment experiences.

He has also attracted a new generation of fans with his irreverent social media posts about politics and pop culture.

In honor of Takei’s birthday, we rounded up some of his most inspiring quotes on freedom, the LGBT movement and the secret to his 27-year relationship.

1. “Star Trek and Gene Roddenberry​ had a very positive, shining view of our future. If we have confidence in our problem-solving capabilities and innovative and inventive genius and an entrepreneurial spirit, we can create that type of future.” —Complex

2. “I was raging when Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the marriage equality bill that both houses of the California legislature passed. I was so angry; I was willing to sacrifice my career. But as it turned out, when I came out, my career blossomed because society had changed. I was doing more guest spots on TV series as George Takei, and a gay George Takei at that.” —Parade

https://parade.com/534235/lindsaylowe/celebrities-turning-80-in-2017-some-of-these-may-surprise-you/

3. “Humor is a powerful tool, and some of these politicians are so far out and easy to lampoon. They just provide such delicious opportunity.” —Mother Jones

4. “Let us all be clear: ‘National security’ must never again be permitted to justify wholesale denial of constitutional rights and protections. If it is freedom and our way of life that we fight for, our first obligation is to ensure that our own government adheres to those principles. Without that, we are no better than our enemies.” —The Washington Post

5. “An assault on any one of our liberties and freedoms is an assault on all.” —Signature Reads

6. “You have to participate in our democracy. Because, as my father used to say, 'It’s a people’s democracy and it can be as great as the people can be, but also as fallible as the people are.' It’s a participatory democracy and unless people participate, there will be those that manipulate or use the system for personal gain.” —Complex

https://parade.com/491213/lindsaylowe/happy-birthday-patrick-stewart-15-of-his-funniest-twitter-photos/

7. "I consider it my mission in life to make Americans aware of Japanese internment, that dark chapter of American history." —Mother Jones

8. “Up until the time I was cast in Star Trek, the roles [for Asian-American actors] were pretty shallow—thin, stereotyped, one-dimensional roles. I knew this character was a breakthrough role, certainly for me as an individual actor but also for the image of an Asian character: no accent, a member of the elite leadership team. I was supposed to be the best helmsman in the Starfleet, No. 1 graduate in the Starfleet Academy. At that time there was the horrible stereotype about Asians being bad drivers. I was the best driver in the galaxy!” —Mother Jones

9. “I am standing on the shoulders of so many people who sacrificed so much to make our equality possible.” —Parade

10. “When we go to bed at night, no matter what happened during the course of the day, arguments or a wonderful shared experience, we’re going to give each other a kiss before we go to bed. Sometimes it's difficult if you had a screaming match with each other, but after you do that, whatever differences you have seem petty in a larger context...I think that’s what has got us going for 27 years now.” —Complex

https://parade.com/531571/michelewojciechowski/actor-george-takeis-allegiance-comes-to-the-big-screen/