On July 26th 2021, two British divers, Tom Daley, 27, and Matty Lee, 23, won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, in the men’s synchronized 10m platform diving event. This was Tom Daley’s fourth Olympic games and the first Olympic gold medal he has won.
In 2005, aged 11, Tom Daley stated his mission, “to get to the Olympics and win a gold medal”. In 2008, at age 14, he was Great Britain’s youngest competitor at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and was the youngest competitor from any nation to participate in a final. He didn’t win gold then, but he has achieved 11 World, Commonwealth and European Championship gold medals. In addition to those, he achieved two bronze medals at the Olympics, with one in the 10m platform at London in 2012, and another in the 10m men’s platform synchro competition at Rio in 2016. And now, finally, has won gold.
Tom Daley came out as gay in 2013, publicly disclosing that he was in a relationship with a man – Dustin Lance Black, whom he married in 2017. As an openly homosexual athlete and role model, and as a victor at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, he used his platform, calling “on Commonwealth countries to decriminalise homosexuality, stating that it was illegal for athletes competing in 37 of the 53 nations at the Games (70%) to be in a relationship with someone of the same sex.” While it is unclear how much of an effect his action alone has had, in recent years, including since then, there have been a number of Commonwealth and other countries that have taken steps towards full decriminalisation of homosexuality, including Botswana’s High Court ruling in favour of it in 2019, and in Trinidad and Tobago, in 2018, a court ruling “that laws banning gay sex were unconstitutional”. However, from the same article, it is also clear that there is still a way to go: for instance last year, a “court in Singapore dismissed a bid to overturn a law that prohibits gay sex”, and in “May 2019, the high court in Kenya upheld laws criminalising homosexual acts”. Hopefully in time, with more people, including prominent athletes such as Tom Daley speaking out against this, these laws will continue to be overturned.
In addition to this, there are instances across the world of crimes against people identifying as LGBT+, an initialism standing for “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender”. An organisation called Stonewall reports the following in connection with the Olympics: “As we see global increases of hate crime towards LGBTQ+ people, it’s disappointing that the Japanese Government failed to pass a national non-discrimination law to protect LGBTQ+ people before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. We are so excited to see more of our community compete, but how can we thrive on the field when our safety is in jeopardy as soon as we leave the stadium?” They have also identified from their research “that 4 in 10 people don’t think sport is safe for LGBT people, which acts as a barrier to LGBT people taking part.” This is also something that hopefully, with athletes and others taking stands to fight against it, will be improved upon over time.
Of course, no matter your sexual orientation or gender identity, we stand by our motto that sports should be inclusive for all. If you have previously faced discrimination in sports due to being a member of the LGBTQ+ community, or fear partaking in sports due to perceived danger, we want you to know that you are always welcome at Defiant Sports.
As always, stay defiant!
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