George Takei is more than happy to have a rational, reasonable debate about marriage equality. In fact, he did just that with Donald Trump about two years ago.
"As a matter of fact, I did have a conversation with him [Donald Trump]. As you may know, I did the Apprentice show, and during a press conference, I challenged him to have lunch with me so that we can discuss marriage equality," he shared during a Monday appearance on MSNBC's The Last Word. "This was, I think, two years ago. And I fully expected him to demur, saying I'm too busy, but he did accept. And we had that lunch.
"And when I, again, met him, he said, you know what, George, I just came from a gay marriage...And he told me, they're good friends of mine. It was a beautiful marriage," the LGBT activist recalled. "And I said, 'Why can't you support marriage equality? You go to weddings of same-sex couples,' and he said, "Well, I'm for traditional marriage.'"
Takei continued, admitting he challenged Trump's definition of traditional marriage, considering the presidential hopeful has been married and divorced three times.
"We finally agreed to disagree. He was for traditional marriage. Despite the fact that he'd been married three times," Takei said, adding, "That is not traditional. And I, you know, approve of his three-time marriage, because you want to find the person that you love."
The Star Trek star went on to say that we live in a "dynamic democracy" and argued that our constitution is "not set in stone."
"Over the years, the whole arc of our democracy has been to adjust to the times, to expand equality to more and more people," he said.
As for Takei's take on traditional marriage?
"Over the years, we've come to understand what marriage really means, and that's love. It's centered on love," he shared. "Brad and I have been together for 28 years now. Married seven of those years. And that is what really counts. I think Donald Trump's interpretation of marriage is something that he really, himself, doesn't really believe in, traditional marriage, because traditional marriage is where two people love each other, commit to each other, care for each other over the years. It is a meaningful ceremony. And his interpretation of that is not what real marriage is."
Care to respond, Mr. Trump?