Coming Out: Boldly Going Where Few Have Gone Before
By Josh Aterovis

"Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise, its five year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life, and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before..."

Almost forty years ago, actor George Takei was a part of something groundbreaking. He was cast as Mr. Sulu on the beloved original Star Trek series. With a racially diverse cast, the show tackled difficult issues such as racism and intolerance, and even featured TV's first interracial kiss. It was challenging stuff for the '60s.

George Takei is still tackling difficult issues. He recently made headlines in the national news when he came out publicly at age 68. In an interview with Frontiers, a biweekly gay and lesbian Web magazine, Mr. Takei talked openly about his 18-year relationship with his partner Brad Altman. Technically, Mr. Takei wasn't really coming out, since he has made public appearances with his partner in the past, but he was making a very public statement to the press for the first time. "I’ve been 'open,'" Takei said in his interview, "but I have not talked to the press." He described it as a process, "more like a long, long walk through what began as a narrow corridor that starts to widen."

Just days before Mr. Takei's interview was published, another prominent celebrity came out, WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes. Considered by many to be the greatest female basketball player in history, Swoopes has been named the WNBA's Most Valuable Player a record-breaking three times, and helped lead her team, the Houston Comets, to win four National Championships in a row -- something no other team has ever done. She was also the first female athlete to have a Nike shoe named for her. By coming out on Good Morning America in late October, Swoopes added another first to her list. She became the first major athlete to come out at the pinnacle of a career in a pro team sport.

She decided to come out because she was tired of hiding who she was and lying about her seven-year relationship with partner Alisa "Scotty" Scott, a former assistant coach for the Comets. "I feel there's been a huge weight that's been taken off my shoulders," Swoopes told the Advocate in a recent interview, "and I feel I can inhale, I can exhale."

These celebrity "outings" are significant for more than just the headlines or the future Jeopardy questions they will surely inspire.
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