Ian McKellen, Nobel Laureates Urge Russia to Repeal Anti-Gay Law

The protest letter was signed "Ian McKellen (aka Henry V/Gandalf)"

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Ian McKellen attends "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" New York premiere at Ziegfeld Theater on Dec. 6, 2012 in New York.

Actor Ian McKellen, 27 Nobel laureates and a fictional king and a wizard signed an open letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin urging him to repeal a nationwide ban on gay “propaganda.”

In the letter, published in Tuesday’s edition of The Independent, McKellen reveals the U.K. Foreign Office warned him about speaking openly about his sexuality while in Russia. “I have therefore felt that I had to turn down invitations to attend Russian film festivals,” he wrote.

His name comes sandwiched amid the signatures and credentials of 27 Nobel prize winning chemists, physicists and writers. For his own credentials, McKellen wrote “aka Henry V/Gandalf.”

[The Independent]