Tom Daley OBE, Master Knitter, Entrepreneur, Diver, Dad
After a golden 2021, Olympic diver Tom Daley rang in 2022 receiving one of the highest honors handed out by the United Kingdom. Daley was recognized as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), the second-highest rank in the nation's order of chivalry, on the Queen's New Year Honors List.
Daley's honor came as he closed the book on his best professional years to date. He won a gold medal alongside diving partner and now fellow OBE Matty Lee at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and turned his viral poolside knitting activities into a new business venture as well, Made With Love By Tom Daley Knitting Kits. His gold medal performance added to his array of athletic awards, including multiple World and European diving championships and three Olympic bronze medals.
Recognized for Athletics and Advocacy for Under-represented Communities
Daley's athletic accomplishments and his advocacy for LGBTQ and other excluded and poorly represented communities factored into his OBE designation. The diver indicated his focus and efforts will continue to be on LGBTQ equality in his decision to focus on it for his first public comments following the news.
“I feel like it's almost like a responsibility to make the whole Commonwealth a better place for LGBT people, for women, for people of color, to make it a more inclusive and more accepting environment,” he said in an interview with BBC Breakfast. “It is now my responsibility to try and help create change and help create this environment where everybody can be anything they want, no matter where they came from.”
“I think it's really important to be able to lift up all people that feel like they're outsiders, 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,” he added. “If you can't see it, you can't be it.”
Pushing for Policies To Forbid Hosting Competitions In Countries That Criminalize Human Rights.
Daley has used his position in the sports world to call attention of governing bodies to nations that threaten the safety of LGBTQ people. The olympian said at the 2021 Attitude Awards that it was his “mission” to push the International Olympic Committee to exclude countries that criminalize and punish LGBTQ people by death from Olympic competition.
Calls Out FIFA for Allowing Qatar to Host 2022 World Cup
He has also been vocal in his opposition of soccer governing body FIFA's decision to host the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, saying “I think it should not be allowed for a sporting event to host in a country that criminalizes against basic human rights.”
World Cup organizers in Qatar promised LGBTQ fans and players would be able to express themselves freely during the tournament, raising some eyebrows as the nation still criminalizes homosexuality. Since then Qatar officials recently confiscated a number of rainbow-colored toys because they promoted “slogans that go against Islamic values.”
“IN 2022 THE WORLD CUP IS BEING HELD IN THE SECOND MOST DANGEROUS COUNTRY FOR QUEER PEOPLE, QATAR.
“HOSTING A WORLD CUP IS AN HONOR. WHY ARE WE HONORING THEM?”
Tom Daley On British TV
Daley pushed the World Cup issue out further in a Christmas message on British TV channel Channel 4. “In 2022 the World Cup is being held in the second most dangerous country for queer people, Qatar. Why are we allowing places that aren't safe for all fans and all players to host our most prestigious sporting events,” Daley said while knitting. “Hosting a World Cup is an honor. Why are we honoring them?”
Also in that message, Daley specifically called for support of transgender individuals, including trans athletes, at a time when there is perhaps the most vocal and animated effort to de-couple Trans equality movement from the rest. Clearly addressing this wrenching issue, Daley states “There is no LGB without the T. We can make this country the most accepting, the most inclusive, the most progressive country on Earth.”
He went on, “What If in Britain anybody can be anything regardless of where they started? What if we all started from the same place? Now wouldn't that be something to be proud of?”
Tom Daley: Previously on Towleroad
Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/Channel 4
