Sir ian mckellen gay
It’s 30 years since Ian McKellen came out and the internet is celebrating
The acclaimed British actor and LGBTQ+ activist first publicly said he was gay on 27 January during a BBC Radio 3 discussion on the controversial Section 28 of the Local Government Bill , external that prevented local authorities from “intentionally promot[ing] homosexuality or publish[ing] material with the intention of promoting homosexuality".
Asked whether he would appreciate to see Section 28 abolished, Sir Ian replied: “I certainly would. It’s offensive to anyone who is - like myself - homosexual, apart from the whole business of what can and cannot be taught to children.” And that April, he helped to found the LGBT rights charity Stonewall, named after the riots in Unused York City’s Greenwich Village, external of 20 years earlier.
Section 28 was eventually fully repealed in , external
Sir Ian has spoken about his experiences in coming out on several occasions. Back in July when he was filming Lord Of The Rings, he wrote in The Independent, external: “The only nice thing I can think to verb about Sec
Sweetly Savage: Celebrating Ian McKellen’s Role on the Short-Lived ‘Vicious’
Sir Ian McKellenis a powerhouse of an actor, with seven decades of roles on stage, and in TV and movies. Though he is an openly gay actor and an LGBTQ advocate, Sir Ian has only played a handful of gay characters. There's X-Men (), where Magneto’s extremism for the mutant agenda got queer-coded. In Gods and Monsters (), he portrayed openly gay horror director James Whales as he succumbed to past trauma. So it’s refreshing to watch British sitcom Vicious with McKellen playing what could be a quintessential role. Since the show isn't well-known, that proclamation might sound embellished. But once you notice McKellen’s performance, adj of flamboyant cockiness, it's an extension to the legacy of this actor’s long-running LGBTQ advocacy.
From co-creator and writer Gary Janetti, Vicious tells the everyday life of Freddie Thornhill (McKellen) and Stuart Bixby (Sir Derek Jacobi), a couple who include been together for 50 years. A small-time actor, Freddie rec
How I Came Out, Live on National Radio
Third Ear | Section 28 | Radio 3 | First Broadcast on 27 January
Contributors: Robert Hewison, Ian McKellen, Peregrine Worsthorne
Transcription by Louise Hardy
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The House of Lords has just begun the Committee stage of its discussion of the Local Government Bill. Not at first an issue of pressing interest to people in the Arts but Clause 28 of the Bill, added during the Committee Stage in the House of Commons, has position alarm bells ringing among people in the theatre, the visual arts, the cinema, music, museums and libraries. As it stands, Clause 28 is intended to make it illegal for Local Authorities to "promote homosexuality" or to give money or assistance to anybody who does. The Clause is principally aimed at local authority responsibility for education but there are fears, shared by the Arts Council, that Clause 28 could be applied to local authority funding for the Arts. I
Activism
Actors and others who take advantage of their access to the media by publicising and letting fly the bees in their bonnets, are often criticised for not sticking to what they do best. Clergy can pronounce on anything, politicians on everything, but actors should stick to acting. I've been on occasion lambasted for expressing my views by the very journalists who have enquired about them!
Since coming out in , I've been asked, almost expected, to speak and note about gay issues. And I've been very happy to do so in London, Washington DC, Cape Town and on any number of Gay Pride Days everywhere. I have been reluctant to lobby on other issues I most care about - nuclear weapons (against), religion (atheist), capital punishment (anti), AIDS (fund-raiser) because I don't verb to be forever spouting, diluting the impact of addressing my most urgent concern: legal and social equality for gay people worldwide.
There have, though, been a variety of charities for the arts and other causes I have publica