For younger gay people, it’s often difficult to believe that only a decade or two before we were born, gay sex wasn’t just shunned by society, it was illegal, and therefore that’s the background against which many older gay people grew up. Sir Ian McKellen has been talking about that fact with Anderson Cooper, saying, “I was making love until I was about 30 with my live-in boyfriend and we were breaking the law every time we had sex. Breaking the law. We could have been arrested. I had friends who were put in prison for it.”
The Hobbit actor backed up recent statement he’s made about revealing his sexuality publicly, saying, “I’ve never met a gay person who’s regretted coming out.”
McKellen mentions the importance of people coming out and the effect that can have for the gay rights fight in terms of changing hearts and minds. It’s well worth a look, so watch the video above.
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