George Takei Calls For Arizona Boycott In Scathing Open Letter

George Takei SLAMS Arizona Lawmakers
George Takei arrives at the Premiere of "Bridegroom" at The Samuel Goldwyn Theatre on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
George Takei arrives at the Premiere of "Bridegroom" at The Samuel Goldwyn Theatre on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Following the passing of a controversial bill which allows Arizona business owners to turn away lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) patrons, "Star Trek" alum George Takei posted a scathing open letter on his blog calling for a boycott of the state itself if the law is enacted.

A portion of the blog reads,

Dear Arizona, Congratulations. You are now the first state actually to pass a bill permitting businesses -– even those open to the public -– to refuse to provide service to LGBT people based on an individual’s “sincerely held religious belief.” This “turn away the gay” bill enshrines discrimination into the law. Your taxi drivers can refuse to carry us. Your hotels can refuse to house us. And your restaurants can refuse to serve us... When I was younger, people used “God’s Will” as a reason to keep the races separate, too.

Make no mistake, this is the new segregation, yours is a Jim Crow law, and you are about to make yourself ground zero.

Takei's blog, titled "Razing Arizona," can be read in full here.

The Republican-controlled Arizona Senate passed Senate Bill 1062 last Wednesday, a bill that permits businesses to reject service to any customer based on the owners’ religious beliefs. Arizona Democrats have argued that the bill is merely a way to institutionalize legal discrimination against the LGBT community.

This isn't the first time that Takei has spoken out about his thoughts surrounding issues affecting the LBGT community. Following the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2013 rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Prop 8, Takei told HuffPost Live that "Two-thirds of the country doesn't have marriage equality. We have divided our country -- one-third with equality, two-thirds without. So our work is still there in front of us."

(h/t Raw Story)

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