Master’s Tea at Yale

Every Friday at Yale is colorful and wonderful for those summer session students. This Friday is not an exception. Most of my colleagues go to New York by school bus, including my roommate, Amanda. Bell is so diligent to go to library to look for reference books for her doctor thesis. Rich and I just stay at home, writing blogs. Susan told us there is a Master’s Tea to be held at 3pm, which provides an opportunity for Yale students to interact in a relaxed, informal setting with a distinguished visitor who has excelled in their chosen field. So we decided to go there and have a look. 

poster for the Master's Tea 

Today’s visitor is George Takei, an actor best known for his portrayal of Mr. Sulu in the acclaimed television and film series Star Trek. Frankly speaking, I have never heard of his name and know nothing about him. We first appreciated a documentary about George Takei’s life with his lifelong partner, Brad Takei. As a political activist, Takei has received international acclaim by helping change political discourses around the US internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. He is also a prominent spokesperson for the LGBT issues and gay marriage. Homosexuals and gays are abnormal persons in mainstream culture, especially in China. The most famous gay is Leslie Cheung, a well-known pop singer and actor in Hong Kong, who committed suicide on April 1, 2003. From my perspective, it’s hard to understand why persons would be attracted by members of the same sex, which is totally contrary to the universal theory—opposites attract. But nowadays there are more and more homosexuals and gays, who are eager to get rid of the prejudice upon them and even legalize gay marriage. From the documentary, George Takei and Brad Altman vowed to each other during their wedding ceremony at the Democracy Forum of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles on September 14, 2008. They have been together for 21years and Brad works as a broker and companion, who manage Takei’s professional and personal affairs. He even took care of Takei’s sick mother for a long time. It was arranged that Takei and his husband would come to the site and answer questions. But to our regret, they did not show up till the end. Only the producer and director of the documentary were present to answer some questions and reveal some interesting stories during the shooting time. 

George Takei and his partner 

To conclude, I would like to say everyone has his right to choose his lover, but it’s not fair for the children who are adopted by the gay couples because they cannot have the same normal family as others.