George Takei in this new video brands Tennessee’s top three anti-gay lawmakers “Friends of Dorothy,” and calls them brainless, cowardly, and heartless to boot. Takei, who gained fame first as an actor on the original Star Trek, then later, after coming out, as an LGBT activist, coined the phrase, “If you can’t say gay, say Takei,” in response to those very lawmakers attempts to ban any conversation about homosexuality in Tennessee schools.
Takei singles out Tennessee Senator Stacey Campfield, who sponsored the “Don’t Say Gay” bill which is moving forward in both houses of the Tennessee legislature, despite the Governor’s request to shelve it. Campfield earned infamy recently by claiming it is “virtually impossible†to contract HIV/AIDS through heterosexual sex, and was later kicked out of a local restaurant for his anti-gay comments.
Takei also mentions Tennessee state Rep. John Ragan, a Southern Baptist, pro-life, anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-education Republican, who responded to a constituent’s letter asking him to oppose a now-infamous Tennessee bill that essentially delivers a license to bully to anyone who claims religious or moral prerogative by telling her that a gay person is not a “mentally healthy adult human being.”
And finally, in Takei’s trio of anti-gay lawmakers, he highlights the anti-LGBT attacks by Rep. Richard Floyd, who threatened physical violence against trans people, saying he would “stomp a mud hole†into them them if he saw one in a store dressing room. Just to protect his family, you see.
Takei also talks about his line of “It’s OK to be Takei” merchandise, which he says all proceeds go to charity.
Watch Takei’s video, “Tennessee Lawmakers: We Need To Chat,” in which he urges, “Keep having a Takei old time, especially in Tennessee.”
Tennessee Lawmakers: We Need To Chat from Allegiance – A New Musical on Vimeo.
Hat tip: Zack Ford at Think Progreess