On page 52 of a recent profile of Ian McKellen in the New Yorker (8/27/07), John Lahr writes: "Looking back on his Cambridge career, McKellen now regrets ... the exclusivity of his sexual orientation ('That I didn't have an affair with a woman seems to me ridiculous. It's probably not going to happen now,' he said)."
I imagine Sir Ian is not losing a lot of sleep over this alleged regret. It may well have been a light-hearted comment given extra weight by the journalist.
But if he was speaking seriously, or even half-seriously, I would offer him a small consolation. In my view, no matter how otherwise laudable or reprehensible his liaisons were in his closeted Cambridge days, it is greatly to his credit that he did not trifle with a woman's affections by having an affair with her. Such an affair (undertaken while he kept his true orientation a secret) would be inherently deceptive, a deep betrayal even if he was sexually monogamous for the duration.
It's true that now, when his sexual orientation is openly disclosed, it is unlikely that a woman would want to get involved with him. But if she did, she would at least be on notice about what she was in for -- to put it bluntly, an experiment unlikely to lead to long-term or fulfilling love even if well-meant.
