Takei, partner vow to live long and prosper together
George Takei and his longtime partner, Brad Altman, are embarking on a new enterprise: marriage.
Takei, 71, and Altman, 54, exchanged vows Sunday in a multicultural ceremony at the Japanese American National Museum.
After two decades together, the two had an eclectic ceremony that featured a Buddhist priest, Native American wedding bands, a Japanese Koto harp and a bagpipe procession.
No Star Trek uniforms for the cultured couple – they donned white dinner jackets with black pants. The couple entered to the Broadway song “One Singular Sensation” from “A Chorus Line” and stepped into a circle of yellow roses and lilies for a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
The ceremony was performed by a Buddhist priest.
Altman said that he had called Takei many things during their relationship – “life partner, significant other” – but that their marriage represented “a dream come true for me.”
“I can add ‘my husband’ to the list of things I call you,” he said.
Takei called his longtime partner an “organized, detail-obsessed, punctuality-driven control freak.”
“I’m easygoing with details, so we’re a good fit … I vow to care for you as you’ve cared for me … and to love you as my husband and the only man in my life,” Takei said as he held Altman’s hands.
The priest then pronounced them “spouses for life.”
The newlyweds exited to bagpipe music.
At the reception, guests dined on Asian/Baja Californian fusion cuisine and took home Japanese tea-ceremony treats in boxes printed with the phrase: “May sweet equality live long and prosper.”
Takei said he and Altman chose to make their wedding public – and have been outspoken gay-rights advocates for years – for the sake of democracy.
“We have a relationship that’s been stronger and longer-lived than some of our straight friends, and yet we were not equal,” Takei told The Associated Press before the ceremony. “What this does is give us that dignity; (it’s) being part of the American system and being whole. We’re making the American system whole as well, as America is becoming more equal.”
He and Altman were among the first couples to receive a marriage license in West Hollywood when the state began granting licenses to gay couples on June 17.
“Star Trek” stars Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols served as best man and best lady, and the guest list featured Hollywood executives, local and national government officials and the couple’s relatives from around the world.
The “Star Trek” star and his manager intend to honeymoon in Argentina and Peru.
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