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The actor, activist, and internet hero to millions revisits the subject of antigay Kentucky clerk Kim Davis and her supporters, with a prediction that they are destined for 'the dust heap of history.'
He's battled homophobes, Japanese-American internment camp deniers, Klingons, and even Donald Trump. And for the second time, actor, LGBT activist, and social media celebrity George Takei is targeted his phasers of wit on those who see Kentucky's antigay county clerk Kim Davis as a hero.
Takei is not buying the arguments of Republican presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz, Davis's attorney Mat Staver of the right-wing religious law firm Liberty Counsel, and those who cheered Davis in person and watching a live broadcast when she emerged from jail. They heralded Davis as a hero for religious freedom.
Here are excerpts from Takei's response, published in a blog on MSNBC.com:
"To her supporters, she is the Rosa Parks of religious liberty, someone who finally said, 'Enough is enough, I have rights, and I will fight for them.'
"When I view her behavior, however, I am reminded of a different character from the early civil rights era: Gov. George Wallace of Alabama. For those who weren't born yet or simply don't remember, Wallace was a staunch and vocal opponent to racial desegregation. For him, the sanctity of white privilege was a cherished way of life.
"Imagine if instead of denying a license to a gay couple, Ms. Davis had sought on religious grounds to deny a license to an interracial couple. She likely would have been fired on the spot, and no politicians would have rushed to stand by her side, no matter what her sincerely held religious convictions were. Discrimination based on sexual orientation is headed to a similar, inevitable end in the dust heap of history.
"And as with Gov. Wallace, decades from the day Davis stood her ground we will no doubt look back and wonder above all why so many stood with her."
You can follow George Takei online here, and at Twitter.com/GeorgeTakei.
