LGBT-rights advocates are livid that actor Kevin Spacey turned an accusation of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy into an opportunity to come out as gay, a move that linked sexuality with pedophilia—two things that have nothing to do with each other.

Gay men especially have long been burdened by unfounded prejudice that they are more likely to seduce young boys, so Spacey's admission that he is gay, coupled with his apology for trying to bed then-14-year-old actor Anthony Rapp, threatened to undermine decades of work to erase the prejudice.

“Coming out stories should not be used to deflect from allegations of sexual assault," Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, tweeted on Monday. "This isn't a coming out story about Spacey, but a story of survivorship by Anthony Rapp & those who speak out about unwanted sexual advances. The media and public should not gloss over that.”

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