So, I have a little confession to make. When news “broke” that Dustin Lance Black (39) was the guy that Tom Daley (19) was seeing, I got a little…judgy. It wasn’t the 20 year age gap in and of itself, but more the fact that the younger of the pair was only 19. Part of me being concerned about this has to do with the stereotype we get from social conservatives that gay men are sexual predators and pedophiles. I was subconsciously worried about how this would make gay men look in public generally and I was worried about that this wouldn’t end well for Daley specifically. While I didn’t go around shouting about how wrong this was, I had some significant reservations.
Then I saw this interview Daley did with Jonathan Ross:
Other than a cheeky tweet when speculation of Black being Daley’s mystery man started, Black has not to my knowledge been publicly vocal about the relationship (in fact, neither of them have confirmed speculation of the relationship). Daley - in so far as he has talked about it - seems genuinely happy. Just listening to him and watching him, he is practically glowing in a way that he probably hasn’t since winning his Olympic medal. So you know what? Age be damned. Like Aaliyah said, it ain’t nothing but a number…so long as it’s above the age of consent of course. I’m happy for them.
Not that my judgment of this matters one way or another. I don’t know either of these men on a personal level, I have never met them, and I have no idea firsthand knowledge of what their relationship is like. My point in all of this is that we, the public, should not be looking down on their relationship. Instead, if they are happy together, then we should be happy for them.
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