Does Tom Daley really have to explain himself?

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This video shows Olympic diver Tom Daley explaining that he is having a relationship with a man.

What does this say about our society? I think it shows that beneath all the so called acceptance about sexuality, people still do not accept it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJwJnoB9EKw[/youtube]


What do you think? Do we really need to hear this as though its a confession? Why bother to do this video?

It may have more to do with the next Olympics being held in Russia, which has strict theocratic laws. He probably wants to show solidarity with Olympic athletes like him who will have to compete in a country that wouldn't mind arresting them, but won't in order to avoid an international incident.

I think he answered that sufficiently within the video itself.

Theres nothing theocratic about Russian homophobia, quite the contrary.

The Putin government knows it is facing a power challenge from the far right, which is why it is remaining ambivalent towards gay rights at the moment.

As for the OP, theres no reason why Daly should have to justify himself. Its a depressing indictment of the lack of progress we've made.

Eh, I was going to say he was courting the fascists but "theocratic" sounded more compelling.

theocratic is specifically religious.

Were the rationale that 'its against god so there' then yes, it would be theocratic.

Is he justifying himself, or putting the truth out there to stop rumours flying?

He was quite careful to clarify that he is bisexual, for example.

I don't see why it's such a big deal. Would people be kicking up a fuss if he was open about having a girlfriend, "because it shouldn't matter that he's straight"?

This seems like a break of a recent trend. When celebrities have come out in the past year or so, it has generally been unceremonious. Anderson Cooper and Jim Parsons are pretty good examples of this.

My speculation (and this is only a speculation) is that Tom Daley has had some sort of struggles with his sexuality in the recent past, and/or was recently in a situation where he felt his sexuality could not be adequately expressed. I suppose the video is some sort of catharsis to him.

Yes this is what I mean.

Image how absurd it would be for a straight man to announce he is having a relationship with a woman. Or a straight woman to announce she is having a relationship with a man.

This video shows that society has not moved on at all, and that most people still have an immature attitude to these things.

It's indicative of the immaturity of Daley's own attitude, which is understandable as he's 19 years old.

Are you being sarcastic here? Straight people announce their relationships all the time...

I don't think many people actually care that he's bi. Isn't that the sort of world that people have been working towards? I mean, Tom Daley does not equal the world; it obviously matters to him that people know, but most people don't care.

I'm not being sarcastic. I am pointing out how ridiculous it is that he felt he had to make this announcement. Would he have made the same video if the relationship he was having was with a woman?

Did he have to make the video at all? No-one would have cared if he'd opted to mention his boyfriend in an interview instead. But maybe he feels better making the video. Hey, if I was announcing a major part of my life, such as a new romantic relationship, I'd probably do something like that to make sure people aren't constantly questioning me for details, even if it was socially accepted. Or rather, I'd announce it on my blog, if I kept to a regular posting schedule rather than abandoning it for months. This isn't the first video he's made, right?

He seemed quite nervous, but if he finally got relief out of it, good for him.

The need for people to put their private lives on display for those who normally couldn't care less puzzles me.

It sounds like he's making a political statement more than anything else.

The Russians don't care.