Openly gay actor Sir Ian McKellen, in his speech accepting a lifetime achievement award at the Berlin Film Festival, told movie fans that although his own mainstream movie career opened up after he came out of the closet, it's still very difficult for gay actors to be open about their sexuality, and even harder for lesbian actresses. McKellen spoke of Hollywoods "old fashioned attitudes", very different from the attitude in theater, where actors are "at ease with being open and honest".

McKellen makes a good point. How many openly gay or lesbian actors can you think of off the top of your head? In spite of efforts of groups like Focus in the Family to highlight the supposed homosexual agenda in Hollywood, I'll bet you can't think of more than five current A-List (heck, I'll even take B-List) actors who are both gay and out of the closet.  Rock Hudson, Raymond Burr, and Montgomery Clift don't count; I'm talking actors or actresses you're likely to see in current People's 50 Most Beautiful or Sexiest Flavor of the Month Alive issues.