LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Japanese-American actor George Takei, better known as Star Trek's Mr Sulu, has married his longtime partner Brad Altman, a gay rights group said.
"The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation congratulates newlyweds George Takei, 71, and Brad Altman, 54," the group said on its website.
Takei and Altman were the first couple to receive a marriage license in West Hollywood when California began issuing them to gay couples on June 17, it noted.
The couple, together 21 years, exchanged vows before a Buddhist priest at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, with 200 guests in attendance, Asianweek, a magazine of the US Asian community, said on its website.
Walter Koenig, who played navigator Pavel Chekov in the original Star Trek cast, and Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed communications officer Lieutenant Uhura, served as "best man" and "best lady," Asianweek said.
Takei wed his partner four weeks after another celebrity, comedian Ellen DeGeneres, said "I do" to her companion, Australian actress Portia de Rossi, on August 16.
California in June became the second US state after Massachusetts to permit gay marriage, and thousands of gay couples have since tied the knot there.
Californians will vote on November 4 on amending the state constitution to ban gay marriage, after opponents of the practice gathered enough signatures to get a referendum on the ballot.
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