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Stentorian English actor Ian McKellen — at left, with hobbit — is proudly gay as a heapin' bowl of Froot Loops, but that hasn't stopped him from being inducted into the Georgia state politico-military machine as an honorary "aide de camp" to the governor's staff. Various gay websites picked up this story from Rush & Molloy in the New York Daily News where McKellen recounts the honor bestowed upon him during press work for The Da Vinci Code (some sites misinterpreted this to mean that McKellen had been inducted into the Georgia National Guard). Trouble is, as the New York Blade reports, the Rush & Molloy item is itself a recycled McKellen quote actually given in 1997 during press for McKellen's movie Richard III.

But you know, just swap out the movie titles, it works just as well. The best part? McKellen's honorary certificate proclaiming his status as aide de camp was endorsed by Georgia's then-governor Zell Miller, who probably just assumed that McKellen's gayness was Britishness. The spokesman for current Georgia governor Sonny Perdue is open to both gay assistance and moderate pop culture confusion, noting "this guy is Gandalf and Magneto rolled into one, and if he wants to join forces with Georgia when we must battle evil, we welcome him."

Happy Endings: Ian McKellen National Guard Mixup Solved? [Queerty]
Side Dish [NYDN]
Sir Ian McKellen not appointed to Georgia National Guard [NY Blade]
Georgian Greetings [Ian McKellen]

[Photo: Getty Images]