Proudly gay Olympian hits back at disgusting Russian TV slurs

Proudly gay Great Britain diver Tom Daley has responded to a disgusting controversy at the Olympic Games after he and other athletes copped horrific abuse on Russian TV.

The International Olympic Committee vowed to investigate homophobic and transphobic comments about athletes broadcast by Russian media last week.

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Russian broadcasters were condemned over disparaging and disgraceful comments about gay and transgender athletes, notably British diving champion Daley and New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard.

According to The Times, Daley and Hubbard were referred to as 'dirt' and 'psychopaths' on two different Russian news programmes.

British champion Daley is gay, but Kiwi weightlifter Hubbard became the first openly transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics, despite failing to complete any of her lifts in the qualifying rounds.

Speaking on Russia's 60 Minutes program, presenter Olga Skabeyeva denigrated Daley, who won gold in the men's synchronised platform final.

“In Britain, of course, they have their own values,” Skabeyeva said of Daley and his husband, Dustin Lance Black.

“If these guys weren’t raising a child together, then it’d be their business. They at least compete with other blokes.”

Skabeyeva then claimed it was 'unfair' for Hubbard to have competed in the women's competition.

Russian politician Alexei Zhuravlev added that Russia stood against "this profanity and perversion...this scum".

According to The Sun, TV host Anatoly Kuzichev also mocked Hubard by wearing a wig and insisting that transgender people were "psychopaths" who needed to seek professional help.

The shocking incidents led to global outcry as supporters from around the world rallied around the athletes and condemned the abhorrent take from Russian TV.

Daley, who won gold and bronze at the Games and was famously seen knitting a jumper in the stands during Games coverage in Tokyo, said he had "no idea" about the attacks against him while in his Olympic bubble.

Tom Daley's poignant message to critics

However, the 27-year-old left a powerful message to his detractors after being informed about the controversy by reporters.

“History shows that everything that society is, has been dictated from the straight, white, male experience,” Daley said.

“If we could come together and use different points of view, the world would be a better place.”

Daley said he feels “extremely lucky” to be representing Great Britain and not a country where his sexual orientation would be deemed criminal and in some extreme cases, punishable by death.

“There are 10 countries that are competing at these Olympic Games where being LGBT is punishable by death,” the diver explained.

“I feel extremely lucky to be representing Team GB, to be able to stand on the diving board as myself with a husband and a son and not worry about any ramifications.

“But I know that I’m very fortunate to have that and that there are lots of people who grow up around the world with less fortunate situations.

“I just hope that seeing out sportspeople in all these different sports is going to help people feel less alone, feel like they are valued and can achieve something.”

An IOC spokesman told the BBC that they were contacting the official Russian broadcaster to express their concern about the anti-LGBT+ coverage.

“Discrimination has absolutely no place in the Olympic Games,” the IOC said in a statement.

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