12 times Sir Patrick Stewart was the best LGBT ally
Sir Patrick Stewart is such a great ally to the LGBT community that he’s been mistakenly labelled a gay man himself.
(He’s straight and married to a woman – but he loves kissing men, so…)
A close friend of Stonewall co-founder Sir Ian McKellen, Patrick is a champion of gay rights and equality. He’s also a patron of domestic violence charity Refuge, just FYI.
We love LGBT allies – here’s why P-Stew is one of the finest…
1. When he was flattered that he was mistaken for a gay man
Sir Patrick was mistakenly outed by the Guardian in 2014 when they wrote: “Some gay people, such as Sir Patrick Stewart, think [Ellen] Page’s coming out speech is newsworthy.”
He tweeted the newspaper at the time: “But @guardian I have, like, five or even SEVEN hetero friends and we totally drink beer and eat lots of chicken wings!”
Laughing off the incident in an interview with the Advocate, he said: “Quite frankly, I was utterly flattered by that assumption.
“And indeed the first contact I had was from Ian McKellen, who sent me an email saying, ‘Congratulations!’
“And I accepted the congratulations and said, ‘I think this is a very distinctive honor that I’ve been awarded’.
“The Guardian is a newspaper that I love and have tremendous affection for,” he added.
“I wasn’t going to get all upset and stuffy about somebody being a little bit careless in their research… or frankly who had looked at some of the evidence and made an assumption.”
2.When he kissed his BFF Sir Ian McKellen
X-Men actors Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart shared a passionate kiss back in 2015, at the premiere of McKellen’s latest film.
The pair appeared at the première of Mr Holmes – which stars McKellen as an elderly Sherlock Holmes – and caused quite a stir when they locked lips.
Jealous.
3. When he said he loves smooching with other men
After getting off with Ian McKellen (see above), Patrick appeared on Conan O’Brien’s talk show Conan and addressed his fondness for kissing men.
He said: “I knew what I was doing! It took Sir Ian by surprise a little bit.
“We are very good friends, and quite intimate friends. It seemed appropriate! That is how we greet each other or say goodbye.
“But Ian isn’t the only one. I don’t want you to think I am a one-man guy!”
He added that he would like to kiss Sir Sean Connery – with “maybe a bit of tongue” – before explaining that he is “entirely” comfortable.
4. When he kissed talk show host Conan O’Brien
Yep, in the same interview, immediately after his excellent admission, Patrick kissed Conan O’Brien and joked: “You were looking at me in a way!”
The TV host joked: “That was fantastic! I felt passion… you’re an iconic actor, a great man, and we kissed, and I felt like you suddenly accepted me as your better!”
Patrick continued: “Who says it’s unacceptable? If you say it, it will happen!”
5. When he was thrilled about gay marriage
Stewart previously revealed how happy he was about the progress of LGBT rights around the world, telling HuffPost Live: “There are places where we are taking one step forward.
“Gay marriage and the legalizing of gay marriage — and not only that, but the endorsement that even our prime minister has given to it — is fantastic.”
He added: “The world is becoming increasingly a more fair, a more truly democratic place to live, and I’m proud to have campaigned a little bit with Ian on those issues.”
6. Whenever he supports Pride
During Pride 2016, Patrick shared a snap of himself wearing a lovely Pride t-shirt alongside the caption: “Pride now, pride always. HAPPY PRIDE!” Enough said.
7. When he hit back at anti-equality accusations
Patrick attracted a barrage of criticism when he declared his support for a Christian bakery that refused to make a ‘support gay marriage’ cake.
He responded with an impassioned Facebook post, in which he explained his stance, and said he has “long championed the rights of the LGBT community”…
“During the interview, I was asked about the Irish bakers who refused to put a message on a cake which supported marriage equality, because of their beliefs.
“I know many disagree with my sentiments, including the courts. I respect and understand their position, especially in this important climate where the tides of prejudices and inequality are (thankfully) turning.”
He continued: “What I cannot respect is that some have conflated my position on this single matter to assume I’m anti-equality or that I share the personal beliefs of the bakers. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could be further from the truth.
“I have long championed the rights of the LGBT community, because equality should not only be, as the people of Ireland powerfully showed the world, universally embraced, but treasured.”
8. When he got Sir Ian McKellen to officiate at his wedding
Ian McKellen announced that he was going to officiate at Stewart’s wedding back in 2013 during an appearance on the Jonathan Ross Show.
Sir Ian said: “I’m going to marry Patrick. I am going to officiate at his wedding.”
When asked how he is legally allowed to officiate the ceremony he responded: “I don’t know, but in Massachusetts, in the middle of America somewhere, you get a friend along, and I read out the words, and Sunny [Ozell] and Patrick will then be married.”
9. When he dressed up in drag (and looked a lot like Kellyanne Conway)
Sir Patrick appeared in drag for a Los Angeles screening of his film, Blunt Talk, in April last year.
Sporting a pink satin dress, platinum blonde wig and full makeup, P-Stew tweeted: “Something is happening in Hollywood tonight.”
Incidentally, people on Twitter thought he looked a lot like Kellyanne Conway. We thought he looked way hotter.
10. When he said he was “in a love affair” with Ian McKellen
Patrick and Ian’s beautiful friendship began in 1999, when they first started working together on the X-Men franchise.
Talking about their bromance, Stewart previously told ES Magazine: “I know that I’m in a love affair with Ian.”
Seemingly his wife didn’t mind.
11. When he and Ian McKellen shared some wonderful holiday snaps
Back in 2015, the veteran actors shared a number of adorable snaps of their visit to New York – holding hands in front of the Stonewall Inn, and visiting some of the city’s biggest sites.
The pair’s photos quickly went viral, leading to speculation about Stewart’s sexual orientation, despite him being straight and married.
12. When he and Ian McKellen compared X-Men to gay rights
X-Men stars Ian and Patrick, who play Magneto and Professor Charles Xavier respectively, compared the themes of the X-Men franchise to the struggles of the LGBT community.
“Mutants are like gays, they’re cast out by society for no good reason,” they told BuzzFeed.
‘They, as in all civil rights movements, have to decide: Are they going to take the Xavier line, which is to somehow assimilate and stand up for yourself and be proud of what you are but get on with everybody, or are you going to take the alternative view, which is, if necessary, use violence to stand up for your own rights,” McKellen added.
“And that’s true. I’ve come across that division within the gay rights movement.”
