I Came Out As Gay Because Of Arnold Schwarzenegger - George Takei Reveals

In a new interview with The Stage, George Takei said that he came out as gay in 2005 because Arnold Schwarzenegger killed a bill that would have made gay marriage legal in California. From 2003 to 2011, Schwarzenegger was the governor of California. Takei told California's Frontiers magazine that he was gay. At the time, the "Star Trek" veteran had been married to his husband for 18 years.

"Why did I take so long to get out of here?" Takei said. "Because I am an actor and I wanted to work. I learned at a young age that if you were openly gay as an actor, you couldn't expect to get a job. And I was an Asian-American actor, so I already had a lot of limitations. There are still big Hollywood actors who don't come out in order to keep their careers going.

"I kept my sexuality a secret for a long time in my career," Takei said. "I was quiet during the AIDS crisis, which makes me feel bad, even though I gave a lot of money to AIDS groups. Why did I go out at that time? Because Schwarzenegger presented himself as a movie star who had worked with and was friends with gays and lesbians, many of whom voted for him, but then vetoed that bill. I was so mad that I came out as gay to the press for the first time when I was 68 years old.

Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno tried to get Schwarzenegger to sign a bill that would have made gay marriage legal, but he turned it down. At the time, Schwarzenegger told The Independent, "This bill just makes a constitutional issue more confusing." Two years later, he turned down another bill that would have made same-sex marriage legal.