Well, he was really involved in the arts lobby in the late 80s, and was asked to speak against Section 28 on a BBC radio news show, as the arts lobby was really opposed to the legislation, since they tend to be both against censorship and losing their funding. Anyway, also on the panel was a religious person who was supportive of the legislation, and who said that we need to protect children from 'those people'. At that point, McKellen (who was, ironically, knighted by Thatcher after this outburst) said 'I am one of those people.'