Sir Ian McKellen Says Oscar Racism Concerns Justified, Suggests Homophobia Problems

Sir Ian McKellen is one of the most widely respected actors in theater and cinema as well as a two-time Academy Award nominee and an openly gay man. Recently, he was asked to weigh in on the racism concerns the Oscars are facing as well as the recent boycott. In response, he suggested at homophobia on the part of the group and said that openly gay actors never win Oscars.

According to The Daily Mail, the Lord of the Rings actor pointed out that lack of diversity is an all-encompassing issue at the Academy, and it's not just a matter of ethnicity as the Academy isn't very diverse when it comes to sexual preferences either. While saying that black performers felt they were "being ill-treated and underestimated," he called the criticism "legitimate" and McKellen wasn't afraid to take it a step further when it came to the issue.

"No openly gay man has ever won the Oscar; I wonder if that is prejudice or chance," McKellen told The Guardian, then saying it was "clever" that a few straight actors had won Oscars for playing gay men and suggested he should receive an award for "playing a straight man."

The Academy has awarded straight men playing gay a few times in the past couple of decades.  Tom Hanks won his first Oscar for playing a gay man dying of AIDS in Philadelphia, Philip Seymour Hoffman won his for playing openly gay author Truman Capote and Sean Penn won his second Oscar for playing gay politician and activist Harvey Milk. Similarly, Jared Leto took home the gold for playing a transgender woman in Buyers Dallas Club a couple of years back.

Hit Fix reports that there have been a few actors that have come out after winning Oscars, such as Joel Grey (Cabaret), who came out last year and two-time winner Jodie Foster, who came out during the 2013 Golden Globes. It is a fairly rare occurrence that gay stars are even nominated in the category, whether male or female, though playing gender/sexuality minorities is somewhat popular with critics.