Alan Cumming says he has handed back his OBE after a reexamination of the "toxicity" of the British empire. The Scottish actor was honoured in 2009 for his services to film, theatre and the arts, as well as his LGBT+ activism.
However, marking his 58th birthday yesterday, Cumming shared an Instagram post announcing that he had recently returned the honour. "Today is my 58th birthday and I want to tell you about something I recently did for myself. I returned my OBE," he wrote.
Cumming, who has US as well as British citizenship, explained that he'd received the honour for "activism for equal rights for the gay and lesbian community, USA" at a time when same-sex marriage was still illegal in the US and the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was in place in the military.
This story is from the January 28, 2023 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the January 28, 2023 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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