My focus is off
posted in funny, kid |I was reading about Ian McKellen playing King Lear (one of my favorites of Shakespeare’s plays), and found myself flabbergasted. No, it wasn’t about him ( Sir McKellen ) dropping his trousers during the storm in Act 4. No, it wasn’t about the fan letter he got from the seven year old. No, it wasn’t reading that he only was offered Gandalf after Sean Connery, Peter O’Toole and Anthony Hopkins turned it down. No, it wasn’t that he “enjoys being a star” because he’s very shy and hates going into rooms with a bunch of strangers, so his stardom is a blessing because everyone knows who he is ( thus there are no more rooms with many strangers ).
What surprised me was that he’s gay. It’s funny; my moms are gay, I’ve got gay friends, I’ve been around gays and lesbians for as long as I remember — they’re part of my landscape like rivers, plants and republicans. So it’s kind of surprising to me to be … so surprised … about Sir Ian.
Not only is he gay, but he also was one of the founding members of Stonewall, named after the Stonewall Riots. And he regrets the years he spent lying to his parents and friends about himself. Reading some of the other interviews with him, he said that staying in the closet is itself a homophobic act and demonstrates self-hatred (I’m paraphrasing). But he likes himself, and so he’s out.
