Takei may be smart, I never meet the man but an Arts degree of any kind doesn't make you smart, Bachelor or Master. And anybody can "study" architecture. Sounds like the author isn't one of those "intellectually honest" people he admires so much.
There's not much mystery here. Takei is a flaming homo and takes issue with the dissenting opinion. There you go, explained in one sentence rather than an entire article.
He may have a liberal education, but that does not make him smart. He sides with vile political positions, makes his entire identity about — ahem — a nasty perverted act, and has no self control when he wins a court case because he HATES that anyone else has the freedom to disagree with him. So steeped in emotion he makes a racist comment. I would not call that even close to smart.