This is not the kind of topic I usually write about, and I do so now with some trepidation, but there's something about one of the day's major news stories that I can't get my head around.
The actor Kevin Spacey has come out as gay, which I suspect is a surprise to absolutely no-one. He did so after another actor I'm not familiar with accused him of a drunken but unconsummated sexual assault more than three decades ago, when the accuser was only fourteen years old. Spacey says he doesn't remember the incident, apologizes if it did happen, but also says that after years of keeping very quiet about his private life, he's now living "as a gay man".
The gay community is outraged that by coming out in response to an accusation of pedophilia*, Spacey is giving credence to the old slur that gay men are a danger to young boys. As one Twitter writer has put it, Spacey has invented something that didn't exist before: a bad time to come out. But here's the thing: it wasn't Spacey that chose this time to come out. He was outed by his accuser as both a gay man (which is fine) and a pedophile (which definitely isn't).
What was he supposed to say? In the current finger-pointing frenzy around Hollywood, a denial of the entire incident would probably not have been believed, and nobody would have believed him if he said he wasn't gay. Spacey was put in a difficult position here; his response may not have been ideal, but it's very possible that the gay community has amplified its negative impact by making such a fuss about it.
The way things are going in the movie industry right now, it won't be long until another scandal comes along and knocks Spacey off the front pages. In the meantime, he must be pondering the wisdom of his decision not to be open about his sexual orientation all along.
* Strictly speaking the incident here is hebephilia as the accuser was 14 years old. Pedophilia refers to adult sexual activity with prepubescent children.
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