Actor Ian McKellen says coming out made everything better

by Sara Ritsch
Staff Writer

British actor Ian McKellen, best known for his roles in The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and X-Men, says coming out publicly made “everything better.”

“I was bullied,” McKellen says, as he wags his finger. “And I’ve wondered, when I was lying on the ground...with a lot of boys on top of me, laughing, whether they detected in me a difference; which I found unnerving.”

McKellen, 77, came out in 1988, when he finally met “other gay people.” Until then, the world he lived in was much less accepting.

“To accuse someone of being gay, I mean to ask that question, it was thought to be the most insulting thing you could possibly say about someone.”

Despite the secrecy, he had meaningful relationships. “I kind of understood myself for the first time,” he says, as he refers to his first sexual and romantic experiences.

“Once sex was being discussed...our individual voices could be heard.”

In the 9-minute video, he explains that coming out significantly changed his life.

“My relationships with my family were better. I was a better son. I was a better brother. I was a better uncle. I was a better friend,” McKellen said.

“Everything was better.”

The Gayly - 5/27/2016 @ 11:45 a.m. CDT