Tom Daley

2 Dec 2013

Diver Tom Daley has announced today that he has a boyfriend. Whilst this fact didn't surprise me the guy actually making it public did.
I think he's been very brave as it could affect future sponsorship. He was the poster boy of London 2012 and is hugely popular in the UK.
Did this announcement shock anybody?
Does anybody think the media were going to out him?
Does anybody think he chickened out by saying he's bi?
Does anybody really care about a sportsman's sexuality?

2 Dec 2013

I personally don't think it matters to most folks. I see every "coming out" publicly as a "meh" issue (ADDED: because I think it is just so common now that much of the stigma has been taken away. How a person acts is more important to most people than who they like to have sex with.). But that is just me. But if I may, why is him saying he is "bi" chickening out? Is he Bi? Just having a boyfriend does not make you homosexual by default does it? If he likes both guys and gals.... he is bi. Right?

2 Dec 2013

Quote by JohnC
I personally don't think it matters to most folks. I see every "coming out" publicly as a "meh" issue (ADDED: because I think it is just so common now that much of the stigma has been taken away. How a person acts is more important to most people than who they like to have sex with.). But that is just me. But if I may, why is him saying he is "bi" chickening out? Is he Bi? Just having a boyfriend does not make you homosexual by default does it? If he likes both guys and gals.... he is bi. Right?

That is the question, IF.
I get the feeling that he was going to be outed as there has been a lot of speculation recently. I think this opens the door without "coming out". He's a huge media figure over here with a massive teen girl fan base. Coming out as gay would seriously hit his earnings potential.

3 Dec 2013

Quote by dpw
Diver Tom Daley has announced today that he has a boyfriend. Whilst this fact didn't surprise me the guy actually making it public did.
I think he's been very brave as it could affect future sponsorship. He was the poster boy of London 2012 and is hugely popular in the UK.
Did this announcement shock anybody?
Does anybody think the media were going to out him?
Does anybody think he chickened out by saying he's bi?
Does anybody really care about a sportsman's sexuality?

NO. I am a truly bi person. You fall in love, are attracted to who you are attracted to and that is that. Maybe some people just get sick of living a lie. People think they know the heart, soul, lives of others and you do not. Straight up gays have got to understand that bisexuals are real. We aren't some people pretending.

3 Dec 2013

Who?

And why would 'bi' be considered 'chickened out'? If he had a girlfriend he probably wouldn't need to state that he was bi and now that he has a boyfriend... he has a boyfriend! Would that be more real if he said he was gay?

=== Not ALL LIVES MATTER until BLACK LIVES MATTER ===

3 Dec 2013

Quote by NickiC

NO. I am a truly bi person. You fall in love, are attracted to who you are attracted to and that is that. Maybe some people just get sick of living a lie. People think they know the heart, soul, lives of others and you do not. Straight up gays have got to understand that bisexuals are real. We aren't some people pretending.

I understand that some people are bi, I also know that some people hide behind it. My point about Tom is, has he been advised to say that he's bi if in fact he's gay in order to protect his earnings potential and keep his fan base?

3 Dec 2013

Quote by BiMale73
Who?

And why would 'bi' be considered 'chickened out'? If he had a girlfriend he probably wouldn't need to state that he was bi and now that he has a boyfriend... he has a boyfriend! Would that be more real if he said he was gay?

Tom Daley is a young British diver, google him, if you like twinks you'll like him.
I slept with girls for 8 years, did that mean I was bi? No, it meant I was a gay guy sleeping with girls.

3 Dec 2013

Quote by dpw
I slept with girls for 8 years, did that mean I was bi? No, it meant I was a gay guy sleeping with girls.

How did your parents respond when you told them you were sleeping with girls?
smile

=== Not ALL LIVES MATTER until BLACK LIVES MATTER ===

3 Dec 2013

I don't think MOST of the Western world or Asian world actually care all that much. The majority simply look at sexuality as a "whatever floats yer boat" situation. Having said that I also KNOW from personal experience, that a lot of the hookers in Asian nations take a dim view of "ladyboys". Now, whether it's actual disdain or professional jealousy is hard to say, and your guess is as good as mine.

3 Dec 2013

I saw the news about him yesterday as well. It didn't particularly surprise me. What does surprise me though is the 'so called' need for Gay/Lesbian people to make an 'official' coming out announcement. Why make a big deal about it? Is it that they are trying to shock? No one gives a fig these days if you are gay or lesbian. It is your right to be one if you desire so why make a fuss or an issue of it. You don't get hetrosexual people making public announcements that they are hetrosexual, we just quietly get on with it. Why can't they do the same?

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

3 Dec 2013

Quote by angieseroticpen
I saw the news about him yesterday as well. It didn't particularly surprise me. What does surprise me though is the 'so called' need for Gay/Lesbian people to make an 'official' coming out announcement. Why make a big deal about it? Is it that they are trying to shock? No one gives a fig these days if you are gay or lesbian. It is your right to be one if you desire so why make a fuss or an issue of it. You don't get hetrosexual people making public announcements that they are hetrosexual, we just quietly get on with it. Why can't they do the same?

The answer to your question is another aspect of the OP. The MAJORITY of us don't really care one way or the other. HOWEVER on either end of the mindset spectrum are the radicals (homophobics on one end and the radical element of the gay/lesbian rights group on the other) who WOULD make a big deal about it. The first group would be shouting their ignorance, whilst the second group would be ripping him for being cowardly and in denial yada yada yada. So, those "announcements" are made to end rumor and speculation; failure to do so is often MORE injurious to their careers. (in other words better to be hated by ONE group than two, it reduces the number of your detractors.)

3 Dec 2013

Quote by dpw

I understand that some people are bi, I also know that some people hide behind it. My point about Tom is, has he been advised to say that he's bi if in fact he's gay in order to protect his earnings potential and keep his fan base?

I actually understand your point. Kind of easing people into the idea that he may not be straight. People do that. It is what marginalizes bi people. We aren't waiting to come out we just are.

3 Dec 2013

To answer your 4 questions in one word, No

3 Dec 2013

Quote by BiMale73

How did your parents respond when you told them you were sleeping with girls?

They were picking names for grandkids, that wasn't going to happen. Saying that, there was one scare.

3 Dec 2013

Quote by proteus
To answer your 4 questions in one word, No

1, 3 and 4 I agree with you but I think he was going to be outed and he decided to announce it first.

3 Dec 2013

Quote by Wardog

The answer to your question is another aspect of the OP. The MAJORITY of us don't really care one way or the other. HOWEVER on either end of the mindset spectrum are the radicals (homophobics on one end and the radical element of the gay/lesbian rights group on the other) who WOULD make a big deal about it. The first group would be shouting their ignorance, whilst the second group would be ripping him for being cowardly and in denial yada yada yada.

All the more reason to ignore these extremities and get on with life...... the dog may bark at the moon but the moon still shines!

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

3 Dec 2013

I quite like something Maria Bello wrote in her essay for the New York Times where she talks about her family and her current same-sex relationship:

Quote by Maria Bello

"So I would like to consider myself a 'whatever,' as Jackson said," she writes. "Whomever I love, however I love them, whether they sleep in my bed or not, or whether I do homework with them or share a child with them, 'love is love.' And I love our modern family. Maybe, in the end, a modern family is just a more honest family."

She also redefines partner to be more than just sexual partner. For instance, she still considers her ex-husband and father of her child a "partner" even though they aren't sleeping together anymore. She considers her male close friend. the late studio executive John Calley, to have been a "partner" even though that was a platonic relationship.

IOW, she is kind of saying we should focus on the quality of the relationship rather than sex/orientation of those in it.

3 Dec 2013

Quote by angieseroticpen

All the more reason to ignore these extremities and get on with life...... the dog may bark at the moon but the moon still shines!

Ah yes, but WE aren't "celebs" so we don't need to be concerned about the economic impact of a decline in popularity.zxiBcuiMDnxVScAQ clapping