Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart: X-Men echoes struggles of gay rights movement; Metro, 2/24/14

Metro; Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart: X-Men echoes struggles of gay rights movement:

"Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart have compared the themes of the the X-Men film series to the gay rights movement.

The esteemed actors portray Magneto and Professor Charles Xavier in the movie franchise and say the persecution of ‘mutants’ in the film reflects the struggles of the LGBT community.

‘Mutants are like gays, they’re cast out by society for no good reason,’ McKellen, 74, said.

‘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,’ the openly gay actor told BuzzFeed."