In a cover interview with UK LGBT
glossy Attitude, Sir Ian McKellen said that he wouldn't have
accepted his knighthood if he was in the closet.
The 78-year-old McKellen, who first
spoke publicly about his sexuality during an interview with the BBC
in 1988, is best known for playing Gandalf in the The Lord of the
Rings and The Hobbit trilogies and Magneto in the X-Men
films.
McKellen was recognized in the 1994 New
Year's Honours List.
“I will always be glad that I didn't
accept the knighthood until I'd come out of the closet,” McKellen
told Attitude.
“If you're lying about that central
part of your nature, can you be trusted? I think that's why when
people come out the reception is usually positive. People like
honesty.”
“They think if gay people don't talk
about being gay that they have something to be ashamed of and it's a
secret. Why should it matter? Once you say I'm gay, then you know
where you are with a person,” he added.