Ian McKellen Celebrates 30th Anniversary of His Coming Out

Ian McKellen publicly came out as a gay man thirty years ago and he is celebrating the anniversary of that special moment.

“I’ve never met a gay person who regretted coming out – including myself. Life at last begins to make sense, when you are open and honest,” the 78-year-old actor wrote on his Twitter account on Saturday (January 27).

“Today is the 30th anniversary of the BBC radio discussion when I publicly said I was gay. So I’m celebrating!” he wrote.

A few years ago, Ian opened up about what made him decide to come out thirty years ago.

“[Back then] there was no equal age of consent [to have sex]. It was 21 for gay people. Nobody worried about the lesbians – they could just get on with it! It was 16 for straight people. Now it’s 16 for everybody. Gays could not serve [openly] in the military. That’s now gone,” Ian told Huffington Post. “There was a very nasty law called Section 28, which inhibited teaching about homosexuality in schools. That’s what got me out. That’s what got me involved. Well, that law is gone. It is now, ironically, illegal to discriminate against gay people in schools – a total reversal of Section 28!”