Don't label Tom Daley

I realize how convenient it is to label people.

As a person who runs on routines and organization, I see the benefits to being able to point at someone and compartmentalize them as homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual or what have you.

But when British Olympic diver Tom Daley announced via his YouTube channel that he’s happily in a relationship with a man, news media took his words and twisted them.

Daley was hailed for coming out as gay or bisexual by multiple news organizations when he did no such thing.

E! Online ran the headline “Tom Daley, British Olympic Diver, Comes Out as Bisexual.”

Sports Illustrated followed the same path by reporting, “British Olympic-medal winning diver Tom Daley reveals he’s bisexual.”

The International Business Times took it a step further by claiming Daley came out as
gay.

Well, no, he didn’t.

For everyone who apparently wasn’t paying enough attention, Daley publicly announced he had met someone this past spring who made him feel safe and happy.
A someone who happens to be a man.

Nowhere does he say he’s exclusively attracted to men. He makes a passing reference to still “fancying” women, which makes the bisexual label somewhat plausible.

But no, you still don’t get to pigeonhole Daley. The only person allowed to label his sexuality is Daley himself.

Daley specifically addresses this issue in his video before he even says a word about dating a man. He made this video in response to a reporter who misquoted him — something that some news media continue to do.

Now, I don’t believe E! Online, Sports Illustrated or the International Business Times
are purposely misrepresenting information.

In fact, each of those articles appears to be supportive and championing of Daley’s decision to go public regarding his personal relationship.

And Daley deserves to be praised. Most of us can’t even begin to imagine the bravery it must have taken for an international athlete and celebrity to admit he was dating someone of the same sex, even as society progresses into a more open-minded era.

But he deserves praise for going public with his relationship with a man, not for adhering to any sort of sexual marker.

The issue is people still need to see labels. They need to see black and white and nothing in between. Because grey areas are too ambiguous.

As someone who claimed bisexuality isn’t real in a column in this paper almost a year ago, I’ve witnessed firsthand the potential danger in telling people who they can and cannot be.

So, if you’re discussing Daley amongst friends and family, don’t take the easy route and decide for yourself what he is and isn’t.

He’s dating a man right now, and he’s happy. There isn’t much else to explain beyond that.

­— wdmcdona@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Dane McDonald on Twitter @W_DaneMcDonald.