But they have been together far longer. Beloved out actor George Takei and his husband, Brad Altman, are celebrating a remarkable 40 years together, 18 of them married.
Image: Brad Altman and George Takei at the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles, CA. 04-18-09 | s_bukley/Shutterstock
By Molly Sprayregen
Beloved out actor George Takei and his husband, Brad Altman, are celebrating a remarkable 40 years together, 18 of them married.
“Brad and I were married on Sept 14, 2008, at the Democracy Forum of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles,” Takei wrote on social media, alongside a photo of the couple with their arms around one another. “We have been together for 40 years, but we couldn’t get married legally as ‘husband & husband’ until 2008, thanks to a ruling by the California Supreme Court that found the state ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.”
The post drew thousands of likes and hundreds of comments congratulating the couple on an incredible journey together.
Takei has previously spoken about how he was inspired to come out publicly in 2005 after then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) vetoed a marriage equality measure.
Schwarzenegger served as California’s governor from 2003 to 2011, and during that time he twice vetoed bills that would have given gay and lesbian Californians the right to marry, first in 2005 and again in 2007.
“He’s from Hollywood, he’s worked with gays and lesbians, he’s comfortable with gays and lesbians, some of his best friends, you know, all these clichés, and many people voted for him on that basis,” Takei told The Progressive in 2006. “When he betrayed them and played to the narrowest, most reactionary, conservative segment of his base and vetoed that bill, I felt I needed to speak out. And in order for me to do that, I felt my voice needed to be authentic. And so I spoke to the press for the first time.”
Schwarzenegger later reversed his opposition to marriage equality, calling on a federal judge to allow same-sex marriage in 2010. Following the Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the former governor said that he was happy that same-sex marriage had been legalized in the U.S.
In 2023, Takei said he waited so long to come out because he didn’t want to lose work as an actor.
A few years ago, he warmed the Internet’s heart with a joke about his marriage. “Change is possible, even if it takes time,” Takei wrote in a tweet that was crossposted to Reddit. “When I was younger, Asian men couldn’t legally marry white women.”
“Now look at me, I married a white dude.”
Source: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/09/george-takei-celebrates-18-years-of-marriage-with-husband-brad-altman/
