(Photo via Themightyquill at Wikimedia Commons)

Sir Ian McKellen agrees that the Oscars have a lack of racial diversity but thinks gay people are also being ignored.

The 76-year-old out actor spoke with Sky News on Monday about the disparities in recognition from the Academy if people are not white, straight males in the industry.

‘The Oscars have a very special place in the lives of American actors, even more so than here,’ McKellen told Sky News. “As a representative of the industry they are in, the film industry is receiving complaints that I fully sympathize with.”

“It’s not only black people who have been disregarded by the film industry, it used to be women and certainly gay people to this day. These are all legitimate complaints, and the Oscars is the focus of these complaints at the moment,” McKellen continued to Sky News.

The 2016 Oscar nominations sparked outrage on social media with the hashtag “#OscarsSoWhite” trending after notable actors, actresses and filmmakers were left out of the running who were not caucasian. LGBT films such as “Tangerine” and directors such as Andrew Haigh were also snubbed. 

McKellen has been nominated for two Oscars, one for “Lord of the Rings” as Gandalf and another for the lead role in “Gods and Monsters.”