Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick dance to Taylor Swift to support drag queens – and bigots are raging
Kevin Bacon and his wife have come out swinging against drag bans (@KevinBacon/ Twitter)
Kevin Bacon and his wife Kyra Sedgwick have re-affirmed their status as fabulous queer allies by dancing to Taylor Swift in opposition of oppressive drag bans – unsurprisingly upsetting bigots in the process.
There are certain things that we had on our 2023 Bingo cards. A new season of All Stars, for example. Rihanna using her Super Bowl performance to promote Fenty Beauty. Unfortunately, a continued attempted oppression of queer performers and trans people in the United States was also on there.
What we didn’t necessarily have down was Kevin Bacon coming out as one of the loudest voices opposing the aforementioned anti-queer bills being passed across the United States. Following a Footloose inspired challenge on Drag Race, the omnipresent actor Instagrammed his support of the episode (in which the queens of season 15 sang about a town banning drag – very prescient), then gave another message of support at the reunion – and has now completed his hat trick of allyship.
“How!?” we hear you ask. By dancing with wife Kyra Sedgwick to Taylor Swift‘s “Karma” while wearing t-shirts reading: “Drag is an art and drag is a right” underneath a caption pointing readers towards various resources with which to help combat America’s drag bans, that’s how.
“#DragBans are bad karma. Right now, drag performers and the LGBTQIA+ community need our help,” wrote Bacon.
Currently, anti-LGBTQ+ bills are being passed across the United States at an alarming rate, targeting everything from a drag artist’s right to perform in public to a trans individual’s ability to access gender-affirming healthcare.
That’s why, as evidenced by Kevin Bacon, the support of allies is crucial. Some of the resources linked by the industry juggernaut are the ACLU Drag Defence fund and the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon foundation’s shop; the actor’s own charity that aims to “harness kindness … to make the greatest positive impact”.
With states like Kentucky passing “the worst anti-trans bill” in America, it’s no surprise that the comments under Bacon’s (adorable) video are a mixed bag of queer support and bigoted nonsense.
One comment read: “You are both so awesome! Thank you!!”
Another pointed out his history as Ren in Footloose: “People are surprised that Kevin Bacon is taking a political position on drag bans? He literally starred in a movie about religious extremists banning art!”
A third has emphasised the left-field nature of Bacon and Sedgwick being some of the queer community’s most vocal allies:
“Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick doing more for the queer community than… like… every pop artist. Didn’t see that coming.”
Singers like Maren Morris and Lizzo have also, in fairness, been vocal about the rights of queer performers, with the former telling Tennessee to “f**king arrest [her]” and the latter bringing out Drag Race alumni for a recent performance.
Unfortunately, the bigots of Twitter have pounced on the video, managing to miss the point spectacularly and denounce any Kevin Bacon movie from their lives henceforth.
“Why are u shilling for men in lingerie to read to toddlers?” asked one, as if that’s what happens at every drag show.
Anti-trans activist Posie Parker even weighed in, writing: “*This* is you cause, Kev? Wow.” Insightful as ever.
Another user described the video of two people dancing in support of queer rights as “one of the cringiest things on Twitter I have ever seen. These people are sick to their core.”
Twitter user ‘AlphaFox’ even felt the need to share with everyone that: “Kevin Bacon is dead to me” a statement which is sure to have the multi-millionaire actor crying into his cereal.
Bacon is a staunch and vocal ally of the queer community, starring in conversion therapy slasher They/Them before staking his most recent claim as drag queen commander-in-chief.
For their part, Bacon and Sedgwick seem unbothered by the landslide of negativity directed their way; we just hope they managed to get tickets for the Eras Tour.
