If you have been paying any sort of attention to the news in the past few days, then you’ve probably heard about the controversy surrounding Anthony Rapp accusing Kevin Spacey of trying to seduce him when Rapp was only fourteen. In response, Spacey posted on social media a very vague sort of “It could have happened, but I was probably drunk and don’t remember” excuse as well as a small paragraph where he came out of the closet as a gay man.
I personally find his timing distasteful and completely harmful to the LGBTQ+ community that he suddenly decided to join. A person’s coming out is often a huge event for them emotionally, but I, among many others, wonder whether or not Spacey is currently using this as a way to deflect from Rapp’s accusation. Is he hoping that his big reveal (which anyone with a gaydar could have told you wasn’t all that big) will pull attention away from this man whose life was potentially changed forever by this predator’s actions?
As someone who came out as pansexual in high school, I have had to dodge many bullets because of that old age myth that all gay people are predators or paedophiles. I’ve had friends who would never in their life sexually assault a child be told that they aren’t trusted with children because they’re gay. If you’re a gay man, these accusations skyrocket, even from people who have known you all your life.
So, when a man who could have come out at any time before or after these accusations decided to say, “Yeah, I could have made sexual advances towards a child, and, oh by the way, I’m also gay,” it casts a whole new shadow over the LGBTQ+ community. It continues the rhetoric that gay men try to take advantage of children. It gives the far-right conservative, homophobic citizens of the United States more ammunition to write gay people off as monsters who need to be stopped.
It gives men like Mike Pence more cause to say that gay people belong in conversion camps instead of out in our community, in our schools, and on our television screens.
Let me reiterate a fact that has been proven time and time again: gay people are not predators, no matter what Kevin Spacey might lead you to believe. It doesn’t matter how old Anthony Rapp was– being gay does not give Spacey any lenience to try to force Rapp into any sort of sexual situation. As you’re watching the news, remind yourself and those around you that the words “gay” and “paedophile” are not synonymous. They are not connected. When they take a second to mention Spacey’s sexuality, it does exactly what he wanted it to do– distract from the possibility that he got a child actor drunk and then attempted to take advantage of him. Guilty or innocent, he’s responsible for giving small-minded people another gay man who can be used to paint the picture of what they already believe all gay men are like.
And remember- rape is about power, not sexuality.
Image Source:
https://twitter.com/albinokid/status/924849990257823744