North Carolina LGBT Star Trek fan travels to New York to thank Zachary Quinto
Melanie Skinner, a volunteer for the Human Rights Campaign, attended the premiere of For The Love of Spock, a documentary about Leonard Nimoy that screened at the Tribeca Film Festival on Monday (April 18).
The film was directed by Nimoy’s son, Adam Nimoy, and shows how the late actor fought for inclusion throughout his lifetime and gave hope to members of the LGBT community. At the end of the film was a Q&A which included Adam Nimoy and Zachary Quinto and, in respect, the last question went to an LGBT audience member.
“Zach, thank you for everything you’ve done for diversity and equality,” Skinner said. “Spock and the original cast were my friends growing up. I was the ultimate outsider – LGBT in North Carolina.”
Skinner even joked to the crowd by saying that she, “had to come to New York to even go to the bathroom.” She continued, explaining how Star Trek inspired her to fight for the LGBT community.
“But one of the things Star Trek taught me was, beside the morality, it taught me what kind of person to be. Spock taught me what kind of person I wanted to be, the difference I wanted to make as a leader in the LGBT community in North Carolina. Zack, you’re carrying that on. And I want to thank you so much.”
The crowd erupted into applause for Quinto who portrays Spock alongside Chris Pine in Star Trek and the third instalment, Star Trek Beyond, is set for a release in July.
You can watch a trailer for the Spock documentary below:
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