Kevin Bacon has ‘hope’ in the campaign for queer rights

Kevin Bacon says the cast of ‘They/Them’ gives him “hope” for positive change in the campaign for queer rights.

The 64-year-old star features in the new LGBTQ+ horror movie and explained that he has been left feeling optimistic that the US Supreme Court will have a tough time reversing queer rights.

Kevin told ET Canada at the film’s premiere: “It’s tough to find hope sometimes these days, but we have to hope still.

“The one thing that we can be hopeful about is that there are young people like the people in this movie who are the future.”

The ‘Footloose’ actor’s comments come after the United States House of Representatives passed legislation that requires states to recognise same-sex marriages that have taken place elsewhere in the country and Bacon hopes that the film can help others recognise the traumas that conversion camps put LGBTQ+ people through as he only discovered the extent of the issue during his research for the part.

He explained: “I just kind of thought, ‘Well, is that really going on?’ And, it is for 50,000 kids a year, in 20 states where it’s 100 per cent legal.

“That’s just not cool and the idea that somebody would want to tell Theo, that Theo can’t be who Theo is, is just kind of sickening to me.”

Kevin revealed that he felt emotional when he started working with his co-stars on the film.

He said: “The first day that I walked out for the very first scene in the movie and I looked out across everybody, all these beautiful faces standing there, I just felt it was very moving for me. I was very, very proud and very moved.

“John Logan (the director) did a very exhaustive search to find the best possible people to play these very specific roles and they can now be represented in this movie with a lot of authenticity and a lot of honesty.”