Ian McKellen: I’ve never met a gay person who regrets coming out
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Veteran actor Sir Ian McKellen has said he has “never met a gay person who regretted coming out” on the 30th anniversary of his own coming out.
Writing on Twitter, the Lord of the Rings star said he was celebrating the anniversary of his public coming out.
He said: “I’ve never met a gay person who regretted coming out – including myself. Life at last begins to make sense, when you are open and honest.
“Today is the 30th anniversary of the BBC radio discussion when I publically said I was gay. So I’m celebrating!”
More than 65,000 people retweeted the update and a further 40,000 had liked the post on Twitter.
Sir Ian came out as gay publicly in 1988 during a radio discussion on BBC Radio 3.
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He voiced his own coming out as the UK Parliament debated introducing Section 28 which banned the “intentional promotion of homosexuality” in schools.
Since coming out, Sir Ian has been a strong and vocal advocate for LGBT+ rights.
Last year he said that it is not true that actors will lose roles if they are open about their sexual orientation.
In an interview at the Variety Studio in Cannes Lions, he also criticised the Trump administration for rolling back on LGBT rights.
“It’s appalling and quite unnecessary and very un-American.”
In an emotional video, the actor also opened up about growing up gay in Britain before the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality.
The video came out in time for the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.
Also in 2017, he hailed the power and importance of gay people coming out.
He also said he most wants to be remembered for his LGBT rights activism over his esteemed acting career.
Responding to the uproar over the “gay moment” in the Disney film, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, Sir Ian said that it shows that homophobia is still “alive and kicking”.
