Our hero, George Takei, takes an awesome stand for marriage equality

By Nikita richardson

September 13, 2015

By Nikita richardson

September 13, 2015

George Takei wasn’t just a hero on Star Trek. He’s been a real-life hero for much, much longer and proved it this weekend when he took conservative Christian hero, Kim Davis, to task for her backwards views on gay marriage.

In a post shared on his Facebook page, the actor and activist warned people not to celebrate Davis, who was temporarily jailed after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples in a small county in Kentucky.

“This woman is no hero to be celebrated,” Takei wrote on Tuesday. “She broke her oath to uphold the Constitution and defied a court order so she could deny government services to couples who are legally entitled to be married.”

And in case that didn’t drive his point home, Takei posed a hard question:

“If she had denied marriage certificates to an interracial couple, would people cheer her,” he continued. “Would presidential candidates flock to her side?”

Let’s admit it: probably not. Here, Takei was referring to Loving v. Virginia, the landmark 1967 case that made interracial marriage legal following the jailing of Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial couple living in Virginia. In fact, the Loving case was cited in this summer’s Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court case that will forever go down in history as the one that legalized same sex marriage.

For his part, Takei added some Constitutionally-supported legalese to back up his statements. In a follow-up post, the actor wrote, “Permitting a state employee to foist her religion upon others, denying them a fundamental right as articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell, would be to give government, through this agent, the power to impose religious doctrine and viewpoint. That it cannot do. Ms. Davis is in effect establishing religion by using her governmental powers to impose her religious views.”

Hear, hear.

“In our society, we obey civil laws, not religious ones,” Takei concluded. “To suggest otherwise is, simply put, entirely un-American.”

Agreed. As for Kim Davis, she’s finally free, but has yet to return to work. When she does, though, the judge who jailed her says she will not be allowed to interfere with the work of her deputies, who issued licenses to gay couples in her absence.

Thank you George Takei, for speaking out against small-mindedness and making your points so eloquently. You’re our hero 24/7/365.