By Patrick Kho, Year 11
Last Sunday, Broadway superstar Anthony Rapp told Buzzfeed News that he had been sexually assaulted by Kevin Spacey in 1986. According to Rapp, Spacey had invited him to his apartment for a party, and at the end of the night, he picked up Rapp, placed him on his bed and climbed on top of him. This all happened when Spacey was 26, and Rapp was 14 - under the age of legal consent.
Kevin Spacey is especially known for his enthralling portrayal of South Carolina Congressman turned Vice President turned President: Frank Underwood in the layered, fictional political drama: House of Cards.
Last monday, Spacey responded on Twitter, saying that he “deeply apologizes for drunken behaviour” and owes “the sincerest apology” to Mr. Rapp, failing to take personal responsibility for what Rapp says happened.
However, drunkenness wasn’t the only excuse Spacey used to deflect Rapp’s sexual assault allegations: he also decided to come out as a gay man in the same statement.
“This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life,” Spacey wrote. “I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behaviour.”
Coming out is a huge leap of faith. Everyone who self-identifies as LGBT may or may not choose to take it in their life. Doing so is generally considered an act of bravery, as LGBT people do not receive the same treatment as straight people in many countries, both legally and socially. Hence, coming out is normally met with compassion, kindness, and support by many, from straight and queer individuals alike. However, despite having enchanted the hearts of many through his fascinating work, Spacey’s coming out received a different reaction; it was deemed by many other as “the first bad way to come out”, an appropriation of the marginalisation the gay community faces today and among other things. But it wasn’t either of these - despite how shameful they may be - that should be most concerning. His untimely “coming out” adds fuel to the fire of something bigger. By coming out and apologising for allegations of pedophilia in the same statement, Spacey reinforces the myth that equates gay men and women with sexual deviancy.
Historically, disliked minority groups are often labeled by societies as dangerous to the most vulnerable members of a majority. As an example, Jews in the Middle Ages were accused of murdering Christian babies in ritual sacrifices. African American men in the United States were often falsely accused of raping white women and put to death for it. And in a very similar fashion, gay people have often been portrayed as threatening towards children - to the point where many have associated homosexuality with pedophilia.
Back in 1977, Anita Bryant, an American singer, formed a coalition called “Save Our Children, Inc.” as a response to a legislated county ordinance that banned discrimination in areas of housing, employment and public accommodation on the basis of sexual orientation. She warned that “a particularly deviant-minded teacher could sexually molest children.”
Likewise, the Boy Scouts of America only changed its historic policy that banned gay leaders and employees a few years ago.
Although the myth has died down in recent years, internet troll and former writer for the right-wing news source: Breitbart, Milo Yiannopoulos falsely suggested that such a connection between homosexuality and pedophelia is factual, in spite of the number of studies (and common sense really) that have proven this belief to be false.
This fear mongering tactic has been used for years on end to alienate the gay community from the rest of society. And despite its faulty logic, it has still persisted even though multiple investigations have found zero evidence to associate homosexuality with pedophelia.
It’s not clear whether or not Spacey knew about the historic demonisation of gay people. But one thing is definite: his untimely coming out will be taken advantage of by a number of individuals in the anti-gay movement. They will continue to preach their destructive narratives, relentlessly spreading the dogma that associates homosexuality with pedophelia. His tweet will prove to be devastating and detrimental to the LGBT community as a whole.
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