An Open Letter to Kevin Spacey

Dear Mr. Spacey,

Less than two months ago, you were accused of sexual assault by a 46 year old man, who stated that you tried to drunkenly seduce him in your apartment after a party in 1986. You were 26; he was 14.

He stated that you forcibly picked him up like a groom would his wife, and then you carried him over to a couch and laid on top of him. He had to work his way free from you in order to leave the apartment and get to somewhere safe. This boy wouldn’t have been legally allowed to drive, yet you tried to take advantage of him.

Over thirty years later, he’s finally gained the courage to come forward with his story. A story that he’s carried with him through his childhood, then his adolescence, and into his adult life. You responded to this story on Twitter in two brief paragraphs--only 9 sentences. Half of which you spend finding an excuse for your actions; the other half you spend disgracing an already marginalized community.

You state that you don’t remember the encounter; but if he’s telling the truth, it happened over thirty years ago, and you were drunk. Obviously anything is excusable if you consume enough alcohol beforehand.

You state that you owe him an apology for the feelings he describes having to carry with him for thirty years. I’m no detective, but it seems as though you haven’t given him much thought since that night in 1986.

And then you change the subject. Suddenly, a statement meant to be an apology turns into self-promotion. You state that although you’ve had romantic encounters with both men and women in the past, it is now that you choose to live openly as a gay man. Oh, happy days! I am so ecstatic that you finally made up your mind, Mr. Spacey. I know choosing one’s sexual orientation can be tricky, especially with sexual assault allegations on the mind. I probably shouldn’t have to explain that being gay is not a choice.

It is people like you who feed into the homophobic stereotype that all gay men are pedophiles. Putting a response to a sexual assault allegation and a coming out statement within the same 9 sentences is blatantly disrespectful to the LGBTQ+ community, who have had to overcome these ignorant perceptions that others immediately have of them.

I am in no way shaming you for being gay. I am shaming you for your inappropriate behavior. Not only on that night in 1986, but the inexcusable ways in which you’ve treated the LGBTQ+ community, who you now claim to be a part of. We are not a prop at your disposal. We are human beings who understand that sexually assaulting anyone is morally wrong.

Sincerely,

Ben Chapman