Chiwetel Ejiofor Suggests It's Harder to be Gay Than Black in Hollywood

In light of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy "12 Years a Slave" star and Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor recently spoke with the U,K. newspaper The Times, opening up about diversity in Hollywood, saying it's harder to be gay than black.

"I hope this changes (but) I think it's probably harder to be gay," Ejiofor, 38, said. "I think sexuality is still marginalized in a way that is pretty open. I think it's tough. I think for one's own piece of mind, for one's own sense of self and psychological health, I feel like that's the horrible thing about 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and all that fucked-up shit, because it produces a sense of shame, and therefore this sense of being 'less than', you know? And I hate that. I hate that for anybody."

He added that an actor's sexuality is no one's business but if an actor does decide to come out, it should not negatively impact his career. Ejiofor also went on to say that his race has not kept him from achieving success but said his career is "more nuanced."

"If I hadn't had the opportunities and the fortune that I have had of course I would have a very different perspective to that, but I can't be completely intellectually dishonest about what has happened in my life," he told The Times.

Ejiofor's comments come a few weeks after British actor Sir Ian McKellen made headlines for making similar statements.

"It's not only black people who've been disregarded by the film industry, it used to be women, it's certainly gay people to this day," McKellen said last month. "No openly gay man has ever won the Oscar. I wonder if that is prejudice or chance."