HATE, THE FINAL FRONTIER. Fighting it has become the continuing mission of gay-rights activist George Takei, a.k.a. Mr. Sulu of “Star Trek” fame. In the “Star Trek” spirit of Infinite Diversity, he boldly goes to Chicago’s Pride Parade this week as grand marshal, with his partner of 19 years, Brad Altman.

Takei, who’s portrayed U.S.S. Enterprise helmsman Hikaru Sulu for over 40 years on TV and in movies, came out publicly last year, shedding his cloaking device as a rebuke of California’s Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was reluctant to sign gay-rights legislation. But Takei didn’t stop at Sacramento.

The honey-toned thespian, longtime political activist and onetime Los Angeles mayoral candidate has been spending much of his time this last year touring the country and speaking out for the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and the transgendered—Prime Directive be damned. He’s the spokesman for the Coming Out Project of the Human Rights Campaign, the biggest political gay-rights group in the U.S. It boils down to simple discrimination pure and simple, Takei said, something that shouldn’t be tolerated in either the 24th century United Federation of Planets or the 21st century United States of America.

Takei has learned from personal experience, not just suffering from prejudice as a gay man (and presumably as someone associated with “Star Trek”) but also as an American-born U.S. citizen forced by his own government into internment camps during World War II because he was of Japanese descent.

“In my own life, I have felt the discrimination that used to separate Japanese Americans from the rest of the country melt away,” Takei said in a press release from the Human Rights Campaign. “I believe that by sharing our stories GLBT Americans can break down the walls that separate us and help build a more understanding and truly diverse nation for us all.” And, by putting the Orient in sexual orientation, George Takei has undoubtedly inspired other Asian Americans to cross the Neutral Zone.