Athlete Tom Daley says he’s “not 100 percent gay” and would prefer a different label.
Last December, tv writer and producer Dustin Lance Black opened up about his relationship with the British Olympic diver and said that they’ve had their rocky moments.
“Our relationship is far from perfect. We have really tough times and struggles.”
Black added onto the topic by talking about Daley’s sexuality. Passing it off as a bit of a joke and a bit of scandalous gossip, Dustin Lance Black said:
“I don’t know if I’ll be in trouble for this; his head still turns for girls.”
Daley later explained that he’s primarily interested in men, but that he does still look at women.
“I always knew that I liked guys. I just thought it was a normal thing to like guys but then also appreciate girls’ attention too. I didn’t know that there was a strict rule, you must like one or the other.”
He added:
“I don’t really identify as any of that. Because at the end of the day, I’m married to a guy. So in theory that would make me gay, but I wouldn’t necessarily put a label on it.”
Now, Daley is opening up more about his sexuality and letting us all know what label he prefers.
In a recent interview with The Times, Daley shares that the label gay doesn’t work for him. He’d much rather go with queer.
“The word a lot of people are using now is queer, instead of labelling yourself as lesbian, gay or transsexual.”
“Queer is, like, a better word,” he said.
“People say, ‘You like boys,’ but I’ve liked girls too. My generation shouldn’t feel the need to be labelled; we are too obsessed by gender.
“I am not 100 percent straight, I’m not 100 percent gay, I’m just queer. My generation, I think, are more fluid.”
This isn’t to say that Daley is afraid of being called gay. Its just that he feels queer is more suiting.
“I was worried when I came out that I was going to be labelled as the gay diver rather than a great diver. Now I don’t care, it’s forced me to be more open,” he said.
No matter what, its every person’s right to call themselves whatever label they want. If Tom Daley wants to be referred to as queer, while still supporting LGBTQ rights, then so be it.
