Last night in the UK, BBC TV aired a new documentary titled Tom Daley: Illegal to be Me, following Tom campaigning for the Commonwealth Games to be more LGBTQ+ friendly, In the film, he says he wants any country with anti-LGBT laws banned from hosting the games, the Olympic diver travels to Pakistan and Jamaica and discovers the difficulties faced by LGBTQ+ people there. (see https://queerguru.com/being-gay-is-still-illegal-in-35-countries-on-the-british-commonwealth/)
Tom shares the difficulties he faced growing up but concedes that after learning about other people’s harrowing experiences, ‘he had it ‘easy’. He talks about a ‘controversial’ singer being threatened with death and rape threats in Pakistan to seeing videos of people in Nigeria being beaten and arrested for being gay,
The 28-year-old sporting legend made his brave decision to come out in 2013 via a YouTube video, when he also announced he was in a relationship with his now husband, Dustin Lance Black. During the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, Tom was welcomed by a roaring crowd as he brought out the iconic baton, which had been transformed multi-coloured to represent the LGBTQ+ community, in a powerful nod to gay rights.
The original program can be viewed around the globe on BBCI Player via a VPN
Labels: 2022, BBC TV, being illegal, Commonwealth Games, documentary, Tom Daley
