Via Upworthy: Sir Ian McKellen has been out and proud as a gay man for quite some time.

 

In that time, the actor has said and done a lot of cool things for the LGBTQ community. He's fought discrimination in the U.K., for example, and has been a voice of encouragement to young folks still in the closet. More recently, he pointed out that the Oscars don't just have a racial diversity problem — they lack queer representation, too. 

Make the jump here to watch him read the letter