Sir Ian McKellen is living the best of both worlds.
The 74-year-old out actor revealed earlier this month that he wasn’t on board with an Olympic boycott, saying he thought it would be “cruel” to rob LGBT athletes of the right to perform on a world stage. At the same time, however, he stands in support of Russian LGBTs. “It’s a dreadful situation and it’s the worst thing to have come out of Russia for a very, very long time,” he said.
Like most of the world, McKellen was also shocked to hell when the IOC released a statement saying the inhumane and extreme treatment of LGBTs in Russia “doesn’t violate Olympic charter.” Therefore, they’re not responsible.
“The Olympic Charter states that all segregation is completely prohibited, whether it be on the grounds of race, religion, color or other, on the Olympic territory. That will be the case, we are convinced,” IOC Coordination Commission Jean-Claude Killy said last week. “The IOC doesn’t really have the right to discuss the laws in the country where the Olympic Games are organized. As long as the Olympic Charter is respected, we are satisfied, and that is the case.”
That shit won’t fly for McKellen. The IOC’s surrender fueled a rant on his official Facebook page this weekend and birthed one of the most epic lines in Facebook rant history, in bold below:
“As a gay participant in the opening ceremony of the London Paralympics in 2012, I am angered by the International Olympics Committee’s announcement that harsh Russian anti-gay laws do not transgress its own Sixth Fundamental Principle of Olympism that “any form of discrimination is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic movement”. In Russia, it is now effectively illegal to speak about homosexuality in public. That means that openly gay visitors to Russia, including Olympians, are only welcome if they bring their closets with them. I agree with the Human Rights Campaign that, “The IOC has completely neglected its responsibility to athletes, corporate sponsors, and fans.”
Lay it down, Gandalf! BuzzFeed has an awesome meme for you to share, if you’re into that sort of thing.
fagburn
Ian also said…
“If we were to not hold the [Olympic] games because of the internal politics of the country in question, probably they would never take place.
“I mean, people would find enough to argue about in America’s foreign policy…”
Clean up your own backyard.
fagburn
Also, your headline is not a quote from McKellen – why have you done this?
Cam
She what a shock, AGAIN Fagburn is here to defend bigots.
You have been on every post here defending Russia AND on the post about the Pasta CEO defending him.
Just a quick question. Why is your first instinct to ALWAYS take the side of whoever is attacking gays?
MK Ultra
@Cam: Fagburn makes Russia look even worse.
If this is what their defenders are like, I can only imagine that conditions in Russia are even more horrible than we already suspect.