George Takei named Honorary Chair of Banned Books Week
– 2 min read
Legendary actor, author, and activist George Takei has been named Honorary Chair of Banned Books Week 2025, a global campaign spotlighting the dangers of censorship and the importance of the freedom to read. The annual event, running from 5 - 11 October, will see Takei leading efforts to raise awareness about the growing threat of book bans, particularly in schools and libraries.
Takei, best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek and as a tireless advocate for civil rights, brings a deeply personal perspective to the campaign. “Books are an essential foundation of democracy,” Takei said. “Our ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’ depends on a public that is informed and empathetic, and books teach us both information and empathy. Yet the right to read is now under attack from school boards and politicians across America.”
Reflecting on his own experiences, Takei recalled the lack of access to books during his childhood in a Japanese American internment camp and later as a closeted gay man. “I remember all too well the lack of access to books and media that I needed growing up. First as a child in a barbed-wire prison camp, then as a gay young man in the closet, I felt confused and hungry for understanding about myself and the world around me,” Takei said.
“Now, as an author, I share my own stories so that new generations will be better informed about their history and themselves. Please stand with me in opposing censorship, so that we all can find ourselves - and each other - in books.”
Takei’s acclaimed graphic memoirs, including They Called Us Enemy and It Rhymes With Takei, have themselves faced censorship. His work highlights the lived realities of marginalised communities and the importance of diverse voices in literature. The 2025 Banned Books Week theme, “Censorship is so 1984. Read for Your Rights,” draws on George Orwell’s classic warning against authoritarianism and underscores the ongoing relevance of the fight against censorship.
Joining Takei is youth honorary chair Iris Mogul, a Florida student who founded a banned books club in response to sweeping removals of books about race, history and sexuality from schools. Together, they will encourage readers, educators, and communities to take action, with Let Freedom Read Day on 11 October urging everyone to spend at least five minutes standing up for the right to read.
Since 2021, organisations such as the American Library Association and PEN America have tracked a sharp rise in book bans, with thousands of titles targeted each year - nearly half of which are by or about LGBTQ+ individuals and people of colour. The majority of these censorship attempts now stem from organised movements and government entities.
For more information on how to participate in Banned Books Week and resources to fight censorship, visit BannedBooksWeek.org.
