British actor Sir Ian McKellen
discussed coming out in a recent interview with PBS personality
Charlie Rose.
McKellen, 76, is best known for playing
Gandalf in the The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit
trilogies and Magneto in the X-Men films.
In 1988, McKellen announced he was gay
in the pages of Gay Times and went to work advocating against
Section 28, the UK legislation that banned any positive discussion of
homosexuality in schools. The legislation wasn't fully repealed
until 2003.
“A law was being passed that I didn't
approve of which disadvantaged gay people,” McKellen
said. “And that's when I came out.”
“And it was just the right time for
me, because [at] 49 I was confident as an actor, as a person. And I
could organize a sentence and make a case and feel passionate about
it.”
“I was in the public eye and there
was a part for me to play within the gay rights movement in the UK
and I loved it. I relished it,” he added.