Ian McKellen’s revenge on Michael Howard for refusal to lobby against Section 28

Ian McKellen, one of the most celebrated actors of his generation, appears on Amol Rajan Interviews this evening. The Englishman, best known for playing Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, has long defied convention and expectation. Mr Rajan finds out about Ian’s life growing up in Lancashire during World War 2, the early echelons of his acting career, and finally choosing to publicly reveal the truth about his sexuality in the late Eighties.

Though Ian had made his sexual orientation known to fellow actors early on in his acting career, he publicly came out in 1988 on a BBC radio programme.

His decision was prompted by the controversial Section 28 of the Local Government Bill, more commonly known simply as Section 28.

It proposed prohibiting local authorities from promoting homosexuality “... as a kind of pretended family relationship”.

Ian became an active campaigner in fighting the proposed law, which was then under consideration in Parliament, and came out as gay during a BBC Radio 3 debate about it.

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In a 2003 appearance on Have I Got News For You, Ian revealed he had visited Michael Howard, who was the Environment Secretary and responsible for local government at the time, in 1988 to lobby against Section 28.

Mr Howard refused to change his position on Section 28, but had the audacity to ask Ian to sign an autograph for his children.

Ian duly agreed, but wrote: “F*** off, I’m gay.”

Ian gave a speech about the proposed law in 1988, arguing that Section 28 was “less about education and much, much more about party politics”.

He labelled Mr Howard’s junior ministers, David Wilshire and Jill Knight, the architects of Section 28 as the “ugly sisters” of a political pantomime.

He described Mr Howard as the “gentleman villain” of the pantomime, and claimed he had “never knowingly met a homosexual”.

Section 28 was made law, and remained on the statute books until 2000 in Scotland and 2003 in England and Wales. It never applied in Northern Ireland.

Ian has continued to champion LGBTQ+ efforts, and is the co-founder of Stonewall — the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe.

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Writing on his website, he said: “Since coming out in 1988, I’ve been asked, and almost expected, to speak and wite about gay issues.

“And I’ve been very happy to do so in London, Washington DC, Cape Town and on any number of Gay Pride Days everywhere.

“I have been reluctant to lobby on other issues I most care about — nuclear weapons (against), religion (atheist), capital punishment (anti), AIDS (fundraiser) because I don’t want to be forever spouting, diluting the impact of addressing my most urgent concern: legal and social equality for gay people worldwide.”

Ian was initially knighted in the 1980 New Year Honours list for his services to the performing arts, and was later made a Companion of Honour for service to drama and to equality in the 2008 New Year Honours list.

His activism has taken him across the world, sometimes causing a stir in the process.

During a television appearance in Singapore in 2012, he asked the interviewer if they could recommend him a gay bar.

The interviewer was shocked and the programme ended immediately.

He had also called Sergey Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, a “coward” in 2011 for refusing to allow gay pride parades in the Russian capit

When he is not acting and campaigning, Ian does a lot of charity work. He appeared in a series of TV adverts for Age UK, giving his time free of charge.

He also has a history of supporting independent theatres, and announced a tour of ‘Shakespeare, Tolkien and You!’ in numerous New Zealand theatres in the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

All proceeds of the tour went towards helping to save the Isaac Theatre Royal, which had suffered extensive damage in the 6.3 magnitude earthquake.

Sir Ian McKellen appears on Amol Rajan interviews tonight at 9pm.