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Tom Daley comes out (kinda)
Dec. 2nd, 2013 04:01 pmThe news has gone all the way around the planet. Tom Daley, the British Olympic bronze medal winner in diving, is dating a guy.
All sorts of comments have been made about this, but I'd like to say something. He never said he was gay. He said that he also likes girls, but that the man he's dating just clicked with him.
I've also seen many comments to the effect of, "Well, who didn't know it?" I would reply, "Nearly everyone." A young man of 19 is still trying to figure out who he is, what he'll be, and who he loves, and I think this is true even for very strongly heterosexual men. Since he was training for the 2008 Olympics, Tom has been in the spotlight, and even more so since his bronze medal win in 2012. He has gone from a boy of 12 to a strong young man of 19 who has two or even 3 Olympics ahead of him. So what he'll be is already set out. But who he is, is still to be determined.
I suspect that some slezoid tabloid newspaper got wind of this and was planning to come out with an exposé. Daley shortcircuited all this with his own touching, emotional, video. It's only been out since midmorning and it has already gained nearly 500K views. The BBC interviewed various out gay celebrities (if Lord Browne can be called that) and the Evening Standard has a story on page 5.
This may not be such big news elsewhere, although there is a Tom-Daley-cult in China which I'm sure is furiously commenting even as we speak. Here it's big news, and at this time, so it should be.
In 5 years or so, no one will give a toss as to who a sports star, a celebrity, or a politician dates, marries, or sleeps with. And this announcement, ladies and gentlemen, is the beginning of the end of such announcements. They will no longer be needed.
As for Tom himself, he is massively self-confident (divers have to be, I think), courageous (stand ten metres up from the edge of a pool and dive in: that takes courage), as well as thick-skinned. He will come out of this well. I hope that his boyfriend does, too. This must be even more difficult for him. So, best of luck to him in his profession and in his personal life.
All sorts of comments have been made about this, but I'd like to say something. He never said he was gay. He said that he also likes girls, but that the man he's dating just clicked with him.
I've also seen many comments to the effect of, "Well, who didn't know it?" I would reply, "Nearly everyone." A young man of 19 is still trying to figure out who he is, what he'll be, and who he loves, and I think this is true even for very strongly heterosexual men. Since he was training for the 2008 Olympics, Tom has been in the spotlight, and even more so since his bronze medal win in 2012. He has gone from a boy of 12 to a strong young man of 19 who has two or even 3 Olympics ahead of him. So what he'll be is already set out. But who he is, is still to be determined.
I suspect that some slezoid tabloid newspaper got wind of this and was planning to come out with an exposé. Daley shortcircuited all this with his own touching, emotional, video. It's only been out since midmorning and it has already gained nearly 500K views. The BBC interviewed various out gay celebrities (if Lord Browne can be called that) and the Evening Standard has a story on page 5.
This may not be such big news elsewhere, although there is a Tom-Daley-cult in China which I'm sure is furiously commenting even as we speak. Here it's big news, and at this time, so it should be.
In 5 years or so, no one will give a toss as to who a sports star, a celebrity, or a politician dates, marries, or sleeps with. And this announcement, ladies and gentlemen, is the beginning of the end of such announcements. They will no longer be needed.
As for Tom himself, he is massively self-confident (divers have to be, I think), courageous (stand ten metres up from the edge of a pool and dive in: that takes courage), as well as thick-skinned. He will come out of this well. I hope that his boyfriend does, too. This must be even more difficult for him. So, best of luck to him in his profession and in his personal life.
