Tom Daley: The Olympics Movement Must Reject Homophobia
No more elite international sport in nations that criminalize homosexuality
Across the globe, LGBTQ athletes at elite sporting events like the Olympics are either afraid to come out or become targets when they do. A lot has changed since closeted gay diver Greg Louganis set a brave example but counseled patience. His successor Tom Daley says the time for decisive action is now.
My 22-year-old closeted gay self thrilled (dare I say fantasized?) as diving champion Greg Louganis won 1984 Los Angeles Olympics gold. I didn’t know he was gay too, I just knew he sizzled with talent and sexiness. I didn’t know he and I would struggle on roughly the same timeline to be open about who were were, and that each of us would eventually “win gold” in “out and proud.”
He suggested LGBTQ athletes acting as informal ambassadors to the world would create more positive change …
When my boyfriend and I met Louganis in Montreal after he’d retired to LGBTQ/HIV advocacy, none of us imagined the Olympics movement could progress the way it has toward LGBTQ acceptance. I can’t believe 20 years have evaporated since I sipped a cosmo at an intimate fundraiser with the…
