"He took me for an Italian lunch in Pimlico, where we chatted about this and that until he brought up the real reason for his invitation. He had heard about my work to establish Stonewall-a lobby group to present to the government and the world at large the case for treating UK lesbians and gays equally under the law with the rest of the population."
"Advice from an older generation, which I didn't follow. He thought it somewhat unseemly for an actor to dabble in public or political affairs and advised me, sort of pleaded with me, to withdraw. Advice from an older generation, which I didn't follow."
"McKellen was reminded of the lunch after watching The Two Halves of Guinness, a show on Guinness's life that "hints at Sir Alec's latent bisexuality in a way that would have upset him, I suppose," he added. Guinness, although married to Merula Salaman (Lady Guinness) for 62 years, is now understood to have lived as a closeted bisexual."
"as a biography published after his death revealed, he was arrested in 1946 for "a homosexual act in a public bathroom," discrimination that groups like McKellen's were later fighting to end."
Sir Ian McKellen recalled a lunch with Sir Alec Guinness in which Guinness urged him to withdraw his support for Stonewall, a LGBTQ+ lobby group McKellen helped establish in 1989. McKellen said Guinness believed it was unseemly for an actor to engage in public or political affairs. McKellen did not follow the advice and continued his advocacy for equal treatment of UK lesbians and gay men under the law. McKellen later connected the memory to a program about Guinness’s life that suggested latent bisexuality. Guinness was married for decades, yet later accounts indicate he lived as a closeted bisexual and faced legal consequences in 1946 for a homosexual act in a public bathroom.
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