Ian McKellen says Orlando massacre can't stop advance toward equality for LGBT people
Sir Ian McKellen has responded to the "mindless" shooting in Orlando that killed 49 people in a gay nightclub, saying it comes too late "to halt the inevitable advance toward equality for gay people" in the U.S. and the rest of the world.
The popular British actor and LGBT activist traced a line that goes from the founding of the U.S. gay rights organization Mattachine Society in the 1950s to gay activism in Mumbai, Beijing and Shanghai, where he's just travelled to promote the British Council and BFI's Shakespeare Lives cultural program.
"In India, China and Russia, they face the sort of laws and ignorance which North America and Europe have been openly fighting for decades," he said in a statement on Twitter. "They know that the fear and hatred of homophobia must be challenged and will always be defeated by the reason and love of humanity."
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"The Orlando massacre leaves us bereft. Hence the need for peaceable vigils with our kind and our allies," he continued. "Out of grief can grow the comfort of comradeship and renewed determination to do what we can individually and collectively, to prevent a repetition."
"What can you do? Stand up, join in, speak out and - most potently of all - come out!"
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