As more and more victims of Hollywood’s past sexual abuse come forward, the world watches as everyone from actors to producers fall in the face of their own wrongdoings. Not only is this done rightfully so, but has been a long time coming, as accusations go back as far as 30 years and show no sign of slowing down.
This wave of change has undoubtedly affected the Hollywood community, as well as other circles with the rise of support for the victims in campaigns such as #metoo. Sexual harassment spares nobody, as its effects are beginning to be seen in all groups.
Anthony Rapp, Broadway star and Star Trek actor, came forward and accused Kevin Spacey, a well-known stage performer, actor and producer, of making sexual advances toward him when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26.
Rapp described the incident in an interview with Buzzfeed news.
“He picked me up like a groom picks up the bride over the threshold. But I don’t, like, squirm away initially, because I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then he lies down on top of me. He was trying to seduce me,” said Rapp. “I don’t know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually.”
The LGBTQ community, which is often the center of criticism for conservative America, has been actively trying for years to outlive the stereotype, most often applied to gay men, both cis-gendered and not, of pedophilia.
This stereotype has caused many to not be able to find jobs with children, or participate in groups with leadership roles.
This harmful stereotype was on the decline however, supported by a 1970s national survey done by the Kinsey Institute, stating more than 70 percent of the responses indicated that people agreed that “homosexuals are dangerous as teachers or youth leaders because they try to get sexually involved with children” or that “homosexuals try to play sexually with children if they cannot get an adult partner.”
In comparison to a 1999 poll taken by Public Opinion Quarterly stating “the belief that most gay men are likely to molest or abuse children was endorsed by only 19 percent of heterosexual men and 10 percent of heterosexual women.”
The difference is also supported by the actions of groups such as the Boy Scouts, who voted to allow openly-gay individuals to serve as leaders of troops and the alike in April of 2015.
On Oct. 29, in response to accusations made by Rapp, Spacey addressed both his apologies for his actions as well as the question of his sexuality, all conveniently in one tweet. “I have a lot of respect and admiration for Anthony Rapp as an actor,” tweeted Spacey. “I’m beyond horrified to hear his story. I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago.”
Now that Spacey has conveniently shadowed his pedophilia by coming out as a gay man, he is threatening to not only take away all of the progress the LGBTQ community has made to separate from these harmful stereotypes, but is also taking advantage of the hard-earned pride the LGBTQ community has for someone who has the strength and courage to come out.
The issue lies not in Spacey’s denial of the allegations or in his want to now live his life as an openly gay man. The problem is how Spacey chose to come out and the effect it had on the LGBTQ community.
Any other method of coming out, even putting his apology and his sexual identity in a separate tweet, would have helped Spacey to provide some space between the two topics, instead of treating the two very different circumstances as similar.
When an LGBTQ -identifying person is asked when or how they came out, the person will more often than not be able to re-iterate every detail, down to where they were standing, of the event and how it has since affected their life. So it goes without saying that when someone chooses to come out, it is an extremely important time and is celebrated in the LGBTQ community.
Spacey has chosen to take this step, which can be deemed as life-changing for some, and make a mockery of it, taking a page out of the book of the current president, and use a revelation in order to blanket themselves from backlash.
The actions of Spacey, both 30 years ago and now, is not okay and should not be tolerated.
