McKellen: India Needs To Grow Up Over Gays

Sir Ian McKellen has criticised India's use of a British colonial law to crack down on homosexuals, saying in a Mumbai newspaper interview that the country "needs to grow up".

The 76-year-old is in the city to promote the BFI's "Shakespeare on Film" series and has been meeting Bollywood stars.

He is due to open the regional LGBT-themed Kashish Film Festival on Wednesday.

In an interview with the Mumbai Mirror, the openly gay actor spoke about Britain's social and political evolution toward equal rights for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and reportedly said that "India is going through what the UK went through 30 years ago".

He took issue with a colonial-era law - Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code - that makes sex between people of the same gender punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

While actual criminal prosecutions are rare, the law is frequently used to harass people.

"It is appalling and ironical that India would use a colonial law to oppress its homosexuals," Sir Ian is quoted as saying in the interview.

"India needs to grow up. India needs to realise that it doesn't need to follow British laws anymore."

A New Delhi court declared the law unconstitutional in 2009, but that ruling was overturned four years later when the Supreme Court decided lawmakers should make the decision.

Earlier this year, the top court agreed to re-examine the issue, but has not said when it might decide on repealing the 1861 law.

Sir Ian - perhaps best known for playing Gandalf in the Lord Of The Rings films and Magneto in the X-Men series - noted that there were positive developments for the LGBT community in India, such as the Kashish festival.

Over the past decade, homosexuals have gained a degree of acceptance in parts of deeply conservative India, especially in big cities.

However, it remains a taboo in some places and many people still choose to hide their homosexuality from their family and friends.