Tom Daley

The writer Nigel Robinson said it best, for me, yesterday, on Facebook:

"Nigel Robinson Well, Jo and Linda, of course it shouldn't make the news in an ideal world. No one should care or report on what people get up to in their private lives. But Daley chose to be honest as someone who is in a loving and happy relationship with another man, and the fact that he is the only male Olympic GB athlete who is openly attracted to men (in a sports world which, I know, is still largely in the closet) , is an enormously courageous act. And that, unfortunately, is news. He has proved that loving whomsoever you want to love (whatever the sex or sexuality) is perfectly OK. Notice that in the YouTube video he doesn't say he's bi, he doesn't say he's gay, he says he's "just Tom". And that's how it should be. "Just me". "Just you". I believe he was also bullied at school, as were so many others, including me, presumably because of his perceived sexuality, and from that point of view, what this teenaged Olympian has just done is amazing. One of the biggest causes of death among gay teens in the UK is suicide, and if his coming out has stopped just one gay or bi boy or girl from killing or harming themselves, or, better yet, has given then the encouragement to believe in themselves and fulfil their potential, and give the two fingers to all the homophobes and doubters and Daily Mail readers in the world, then I don't even care if he wins a gold medal at Rio in 2016 or not: as far as I'm concerned, after what he did today, Tom Daley is a f**ing hero."