In a spectacularly fabulous ceremony, George Takei married his partner of 21 years, Brad Altman, on Sunday at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. The groom and groom were dressed alike in white dinner jackets and black pants. Hopefully the waiters were not.

Takei and Altman walked down the aisle together to “One Singular Sensation”.  I wish I would have thought of that when I got married.  I was bummed I didn’t see Muriel’s Wedding until after I got married because I would have made my dad walk me down the aisle to ABBA, but a song from A Chorus Line?  Too excellent!  My ex probably would have picked the tits and ass one, though, which, obviously, is why he’s my ex.

But, I digress.

At the altar, the wedding couple stood in a circle of yellow roses and lillies, where a Buddhist priest wed them in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.  They exchanged Native American wedding bands and walked out amongst cheers to the music of a Scottish bagpipe.  I think they had all their ethnic bases covered.

Takei, who is 71, and Altman, 54, wrote their own vows.

Altman said that he had called Takei many things during their two decades together — “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,” he said in the trademark baritone recognizable to all “Star Trek” and Howard Stern fans.

“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.”

[AP via Google News]

Star Trek alumn Walter Koenig (Cmdr. Chekov) and Nichelle Nichols (Cmdr. Uhura) were the couple’s Best Man and Best Lady.

And no, I’m not going to make the Live Long and Prosper joke.

I can’t explain why, but gay love makes me really happy. Significantly happier than straight love. Perhaps it’s the romantic in me, and the fact that they have to overcome so many obstacles. Which is the same reason I love inspirational sports movies. Obstacles suck, but make for a better storyline. Now that gay marriage is happening in California, many longtime couples are finally getting hitched, including a few famous ones.

Star Trek’s George Takei and his boyfriend of 21 years, Brad Altman, have taken out a marriage license in preparation for their September wedding.

Takei, 71, tells ET that his 54-year-old partner Brad proposed to him as the two were eating, just after the news was announced that the California Supreme Court had legalized marriage for same-sex couples. “He said George, will you marry me? And I said, ‘Darn it,’ with my mouth full, ‘I meant to do that, you beat me to it,’” Takei said.

The couple, who have been together for more than 21 years, arrived to a throng of reporters at West Hollywood’s auditorium and were first in line to pay $70 for a marriage license during a ceremony to honor same-sex couples.

Takei, who played Sulu in the “Star Trek” series, said a few of his TV co-stars will take pary in the wedding, planned for September 14th. “Our best man is going to be my colleague from “Star Trek,” WALTER KOENIG, who played Chekov, and the matron of honor is NICHELLE NICHOLS, who played Uhura.”

[From Entertainment Tonight]

Aww! That’s all I can say. It makes me all smushy inside. Supposedly George and Brad have created a nice bit of gossip drama by refusing to invite William Shatner to their wedding. But really, who would want such a scene stealer around on your big day? I can’t really blame them.

Here’s George Takei and Brad Altman receiving their marriage license in West Hollywood yesterday. Images thanks to WENN. Header video thanks to RedLasso.

Ellen Degeneres isn’t the only celebrity Californian to announce she’ll marry her partner after the state became the second in the union to legalize same sex marriage. George Takei, best known for his role on Star Trek as Sulu, has announced on his website that he will marry his partner of 21 years, Brad Altman:

The California Supreme Court has ruled that all Californians have a fundamental right to marry the person he or she loves. Brad and I have shared our lives together for over 21 years. We’ve worked in partnership; he manages the business side of my career and I do the performing. We’ve traveled the world together from Europe to Asia to Australia. We’ve shared the good times as well as struggled through the bad. He helped me care for my ailing mother who lived with us for the last years of her life. He is my love and I can’t imagine life without him. Now, we can have the dignity, as well as all the responsibilities, of marriage. We embrace it all heartily.

The California Supreme Court further ruled that our Constitution provides for equal protection for all and that it cannot have marriage for one group and another form - domestic partnership - for another group. No more “separate but equal.” No more second-class citizenship. Brad and I are going to be married as full citizens of our state.

[From GeorgeTakei.com]

It’s about time that same sex couples had the right to marry. Can you imagine not being able to see your long term partner in the hospital, or being told that you had no right to inherit after the person you spent most of your life with passed away? That’s what many same sex couples face, and it must be a scary situation that a lot of people have to plan for when they don’t have the right to marry. Now there are two states where same sex couples are recognized and have the same legal rights.

Congratulations to George and Brad for being able to make it official! 21 years is a long time to wait.

George Takei is 71, but he looks like he’s in his early 50s to me. Takei has several cameos in upcoming comedies and he keeps busy with speaking and convention appearances. He recently appeared on Heroes as the character Hiro’s father. He’s also an incredibly good sport, and has gone on the Howard Stern show multiple times and laughed through all the jokes at his expense. Takei was a guest announcer on Howard Stern for a week this March, and credits Stern for helping revive his career.

Thanks to Trekmovie.com for the header image and details for this story. Other details from Wikipedia.

Sometimes a star has something that I am crazy jealous of, like Reese Witherspoon’s Oscar dress. I am crazy jealous of this, as I could never get close to having something this cool named after me.

Star Trek actor George Takei has been chosen as the namesake of the asteroid formerly known as the 1994 GT9.

The asteroid, located between Mars and Jupiter, has been renamed 7307 Takei in honour of the actor, who is best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu in the original Star Trek series.

“I am now a heavenly body,” Takei said today, laughing.

“I found out about it yesterday. … I was blown away. It came out of the clear, blue sky - just like an asteroid.”

The celestial rock, discovered by two Japanese astronomers in 1994, joins the 4659 Roddenberry (named for the show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry) and the 68410 Nichols (for co-star Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura).

Sydney Morning Herald

Now, I know you can have naming rights to stars – you can buy them at your local observatory. The Auckland observatory claim you can actually see the star you adopt, but that’s just probably because the stars you can see from new Zealand aren’t popular. They certainly aren’t as cool as having an asteroid named after you because you used to pretend to be on a space ship - the star ship Enterprise - which also has an asteroid named after it.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) point out that purchasing or adopting a star means very little in their community, but being given one by them means that astronomers themselves will use the name given.

Whoever discovers an asteroid, for you amateur stargazers out there, has ten years to give it a name. After that the IAU consider other suggestions, where it strongly warns against names in questionable taste, or military and political leaders less than 100 years dead. I guess George Bush has a few years before we can hurtle him through the universe…

In case you were wondering, some other famous names to grace our skies include Elvis, Lennon, McCartney, and Shakespeare.

And that’s your daily dose of space trivia.

For those of you who, like myself, aren’t Star Trek fans, George Takei is now seen on Heroes, as Hiro Nakamura’s father.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Header image is not Takei’s specific asteroid, and was found at Space-Travel.com. Picture of George Takei via MSNBC.