Video: Ian McKellen has ‘never met a gay person who regrets coming out’

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Sir Ian McKellen has said in an interview that he never regretted his decision to come out, and has also never met a gay person who regrets coming out.

Speaking to US TV host, Anderson Cooper, on Anderson Live, the gay actor, and equal rights activist, said there was no negative aspects to his coming out. he said:

“My film career took off, I hadn’t had one before really. I have never met a gay person who regrets coming out.” Addressing Anderson Cooper, who is also openly gay, he said:

“I’m sure you found the same – you’re more at ease with your loved ones, your family and your extended family and your friends, your employers and your employees.

“Everyone is happy because they know where they are, it’s out in the open, and honesty is the best policy. ” He continued: “The ease with which people accept gay people has changed enormously, but there is a long way to go.”

Fellow, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, star, Martin Freeman, notes the decriminalised of homosexuality in 1967, and Sir McKellen responds:

“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. We could be arrested. We had friends who were put in prison for it.”

The Lord of the Rings star said in an earlier interview that he regretted not coming out until he was 49 and that he would have done earlier if he knew that his reception would be so warm

Sir Ian revealed this week that he has been living with prostate cancer for several years, but says he currently requires no treatment.

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