Tom Daley uses newfound notoriety to advance the LGBTQ agenda
2021 was definitely Tom Daley’s year! He won gold at the Tokyo Olympics for the first time, started his own knitting business, and used his voice and platform to connect with members of the LGBTQ community around the world. As 2022 ticked over, Tom Daley is at it again.
The British athlete was just granted a place in the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) where he was added to the Queen’s New Year Honors List for his contributions to British culture. While it was his role as an accomplished diver that may have given him this privilege, Daley decided to use the moment to capitalize the spotlight for the LGBTQ community.
Daley says this award is an opportunity for him to use his platform again to make positive change, to raise awareness, and to speak to, and for, his community.
“Taking it from just being an OBE, to being something where I can help people, no matter where they’re born or where they come from, that they can feel like they can be whatever they want to be. If you can’t see it, you can’t be it. At the end of the day, I think that it’s really important to be able to lift up all of the people that feel like they’re outsiders, that feel like they don’t fit in, and feel like they have been less than for so many years, to support them in being whatever they want to be and now as an OBE, to be able to lift up their voices,” Tom Daley told the BBC Breakfast Show.
In the same interview, Daley says that he feels that it is his responsibility now, as a public figure and someone who has access to a platform to help create change and show those around him that people can be whatever they want, regardless of where they are born.
Q+ Magazine congratulates Tom Daley on his new honor and we’re thankful for all you do for the community. We can’t wait to see what you do in 2022.
Tom Daley joins the likes of Daniel Craig for his contributions as James Bond, Melanie Brown, a.k.a Scary Spice, and former Prime Minister Tony Blair as co-recipients of this great honor.
