Tom Daley Comes Out

[Mike Oxlong]

 

I've had more than my fair share of attention as well from the male sex, I'm what they class as "one of the bears" from the limited time I have spent in gay bars, not to mention some very unwanted attention in a previous job, had a woman recieved some of the stuff I got they bloke would have been in court rather than it treated as a "bit of fun" because the perpetrator was gay.

 .

Did he perpetrate or penetrate?

[Alf Bentley]

Right on attitude is annoying but to continue on with the "we're more educated than you" attitude when you are consistently proved wrong about everything from economics to homosexuality takes some doing. They'll pull it off though. No pun intended.

 

Should they have outed him? No. Should they produce a huge document saying anyone who thinks he's gay is wrong? No. Most of us live in the Real World and it was obvious from a very young age he liked a bit of back door boogying.

Don't understand why you have had a go at me for the highlighted bit, I couldn't care less what he is and the sooner it's not an issue for anyone to come out the better. I have the right to laugh at anybody who was genuinely surprised by the news though for someone as obvious as this.

 

I've had more than my fair share of attention as well from the male sex, I'm what they class as "one of the bears" from the limited time I have spent in gay bars, not to mention some very unwanted attention in a previous job, had a woman recieved some of the stuff I got they bloke would have been in court rather than it treated as a "bit of fun" because the perpetrator was gay.

 

If he wants to say he's bi then fine, but I have a feeling you'll have more chance of seeing me writing a column for the Morning Star than Tom Daley going muff diving anytime in his life.

 

Didn't intend to "have a go" and sorry if I came across as over-harsh. However, Daley is a teenager (I assume you remember what an insecure time that can be - maybe it wasn't for you?) and has a high public profile. He's not doing anyone any harm, so why should he have to tell the public about his sex life until he chooses? And why should a newspaper second-guess him because it is "obvious" to you that he's gay (and not bisexual, apparently - God knows how you know that?).

 

- It was "obvious" to my persecutors when I was 14-16 that I was gay (but I wasn't)

- It was presumably "obvious" to some people in your past that you were gay (but presumably you weren't)

- It was "obvious" to me that my nephew was gay and it turns out that it was to him, as well....but it wasn't obvious at all to my parents (his grandparents), though they took it fine, once they were given the "surprise" news. Maybe Daley has grandparents?

- It's presumably "obvious" to us that Liam Moore and Jeff Schlupp "like a bit of front-door boogying" - should they come clean in the Mercury?

 

Maybe Daley is adopting "bisexual" as a convenient halfway house? Maybe he knows that he is bisexual? Maybe he is still confused about his sexuality? We sure as hell don't know - and it's none of our business to make unfounded assumptions.

 

You're right that The Guardian is an insufferably smug publication, though. That's why I ended up switching to the Indie so often, back when I used to buy a daily paper and when the Indie was better than it is now. Given the teenager Daley's right to decide what was said about his sex life and the fact he was harming nobody, I still think they were justified in choosing to take his statements at face value, even if they turned out to be at least partly false. 

[Guest MattP]

I don't think he has ever had to come out, to be honest I still have no idea why he did and I know idea why anyone makes his sexuality out to be an issue.

 

I realise you might have had a hard time but your experience sounds bit more like school bullying than a general educated opinion that you were actually gay, were the persecutors the same age as you? I have the same situation with a young relative btw, obvious to me and my Dad but the women in the family dont appear to see it.

 

I've no doubt the "bisexual" thing is a convenience for him, you'll never see that guy with a bird unless its organised by Max Clifford.

 

Anyway lets let him get on with his life, a 40 year old guy mind? Bit creepy to say the least. What do you think of that?

 

Reminds me of the gay I worked with and how he was "introduced to the scene" - taken out at 16 by a 48 year old he met on a website (who of course took his virginity), made me uncomfortable listening to it to say the least.

 

Bet you can't find a wesbite for blokes that does that with women.

[The Year Of The Fox]

That was a genuine error on my part

[Alf Bentley]

I don't think he has ever had to come out, to be honest I still have no idea why he did and I know idea why anyone makes his sexuality out to be an issue.

 

I realise you might have had a hard time but your experience sounds bit more like school bullying than a general educated opinion that you were actually gay, were the persecutors the same age as you? I have the same situation with a young relative btw, obvious to me and my Dad but the women in the family dont appear to see it.

 

I've no doubt the "bisexual" thing is a convenience for him, you'll never see that guy with a bird unless its organised by Max Clifford.

 

Anyway lets let him get on with his life, a 40 year old guy mind? Bit creepy to say the least. What do you think of that?

 

Reminds me of the gay I worked with and how he was "introduced to the scene" - taken out at 16 by a 48 year old he met on a website (who of course took his virginity), made me uncomfortable listening to it to say the least.

 

Bet you can't find a wesbite for blokes that does that with women.

 

I presume that Daley coming out had something to do with lots of people speculating about his sexuality, a few sending him abuse about it - and probably knowing that paparazzi were after photos of him with a bloke to sell to the tabloids. Meant he controlled how and when people found out, I suppose. That, and public "self-acceptance", as another poster pointed out.

 

You might well be right that it was "bullying" in my case (it was blokes the same age); didn't make it any less disturbing, though, being filled with lust for girls while "everyone" (or so it seemed) "knew" that I was really interested in boys and was therefore some sort of inferior, unacceptable freak. A few years later, it'd have been water off a duck's back, but you're vulnerable in your teens.

 

I'd not seen about Daley's bloke being 40, but do find big age gaps potentially dodgy if one party is so young (not when older - my Dad's 9 years older than my Mum and my mother-in-law was 9 years older than my father-in-law, but they were all in their 20s/30s when they met). He commented on feeling "safe" and his Dad died a couple of years ago, didn't he? So, maybe he's looking for a surrogate father figure?

 

I completely agree about your 16-year-old friend and the 48-year-old, though. That's a disgusting abuse of power, worse than experienced 22-year-olds preying on lonely 18-year-old virgins newly away from home during so-called "Fvck a Fresher Weeks".