Ian McKellen 'Proudly' Rips Leviticus 18:22 Out of All Bibles

Posted Monday 02 November 11:50 AM By: PopEater Staff

Note to hotel managers: unless you want it to be altered forever, remove that Bible from Sir Ian McKellen's bedside drawer before he shows up.

In a Q&A with Details magazine, the openly gay 'Lord of the Rings' star admits to a habit of tearing out the Bible passage that condemns homosexuality -- Leviticus 18:22 -- every time he finds one in his hotel room. The passage: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." "I'm not proudly defacing the book," he asserts, "but it's a choice between removing that page and throwing away the whole Bible."

McKellen says his actions have inspired others to do the same. "I got delivered a package of 40 of those pages that had been torn out by a married couple I know. They put them on a bit of string so that I could hang it up in the bathroom."

The actor, who didn't come out of the closet until he was 49, talks openly about hiding his sexuality in order to build a successful career. "Acting was a means to publicly display my emotions in a way that was illegal for me to do as a private person."

He adds: "It was horrible living this secret life. You could feel a little bit what it was like to be a Jew in central Europe during a certain period. It was horrible."

Asked if he had ever considered getting married, McKellen says the act "never crossed my mind that it'd ever be possible for me."

"That's the scar that I and so many others bear -- we believed ourselves to be second-rate citizens for so long, the idea of being able to say 'This is my husband, these are my children' was not an option. I remember Tom Stoppard saying to me when I came out, 'I feel so sorry for you, because you'll never have children.' These days I would say, 'Well, why not, Tom?' But 20 years ago I accepted his judgment."

http://www.popeater.ca/2009/11/02/ian-mckellen-bible-leviticus-1822/

Comments (3)

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come soon Lord Jesus Written by PAULINE KARIUKI, November 09, 2009 i agree with jameca that this man is just trying to justify his act but its not only in Leviticus but also in Romans 1:27 so there is nothing like being proud in fact he is already condemning himself. let pray for them to accept the way Our all knowing God ordered things to be from the beginning. if things were to be so then god could have created two men instead of Adam and eve. +0

What's that verse? Written by Jameca Johnson, November 09, 2009 (paraphrasing)to whosoever would take anything from the bible, their name would be taken out of the book of life, and to whomever would add anything to it, the plagues would be added to them... Sometimes the truth hurts, but him ripping out the page doesn't change the fact that it is written in the bible. In fact that is a reminder each time he rips it out that he is aware of his sins, and rebelling against God, who is his only saviour! -1

... Written by endtime elijah, November 08, 2009 apologies will be due to ? +1