Many members and supporters of the LGBT community did not take well to Spacey's words, including Valerie Jarrett, former top adviser in the Obama White House. Conservative writer Erick Erickson acknowledged as much on Twitter today:The gay community has worked very hard to separate the idea of gay behavior and child predatory behavior. Gregory Herek, a professor at the University of California at Davis, discredited multiple false studies that have attempted to connect homosexuality with child molestation. “Even though most Americans don't regard gay people as child molesters, confusion remains widespread in this area,” he wrote. Many activists responded so strongly to Spacey's statement because historically the false link between gay men and preying on children has been used in politics and policymaking decisions affecting the gay community.

Source: Washington Post October 30, 2017 19:07 UTC