March 5, 2012
George Takei to Meet With Donald Trump to Discuss Gay Marriage
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Openly gay actor George Takei plans to meet business magnate and reality star Donald Trump in hopes to change his mind about marriage equality, Mediate reported.
Takei, 74, who was recently "fired" on the latest season of "Celebrity Apprentice," invited Trump to lunch at New York City's Jean Georges restaurant in order to discuss same-sex marriage. The two men will get together in April, New York Daily News reports.
"Donald Trump has accepted my lunch invitation to hear me out on same-sex marriage. Hope I can change his mind! #OneStateOnePersonAtaTime," the "Star Trek" actor tweeted.
During an "Apprentice" conference call, Takei first asked the Donald to lunch to discuss gay marriage. "Next time I'm in New York, Mr. Trump, I might take you to Jean Georges for lunch, and maybe we can discuss marriage equality," the actor said.
"You would be the perfect guy to teach me," Trump responded. "You have a deal," Trump replied.
"I'm looking forward to the lunch. I really was serious. I think Mr. Trump is a decent, fair-minded guy, and I think we can have a very good discussion," Takei told the Daily News.
For his part, Trump said Takei "fire himself. I looked at him and said, 'You feel that way? You're fired?" On "Fox & Friends," he called Takei, "a good guy, but a little sensitive."
In 2010 Trump made headlines around the world for expressing interest in running for president in the 2012 election. In May 2011, however, the businessman announced he would not run for office.
Takei officially came out in 2005 and has been a LGBT rights advocate for some time. He is currently the spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign's "Coming Out Project" and in 2006 started his own campaign "Equality Trek," where he speaks about his life as a gay Japanese American.
In May 2011, Takei started a campaign against Tennessee's controversial "Don't Say Gay" bill, which prohibits elementary and middle school teachers from discussing LGBT issues in the classroom. In addition, the actor and his partner Brad Altman made a public service announcement, which was sponsored by the Census Bureau, to make sure that same-sex couples were counted on the 2010 Census.
