Olympic athlete Tom Daley has been named the recipient of this year’s GAY TIMES Honour for Changemaker presented by Meta Quest.
GAY TIMES CEO Tag Warner announced the win alongside designer Daniel W. Fletcher in front of an audience full of LGBTQ+ community members and allies on 25 November at Magazine London in the heart of the capital.
Daley being given the Honour for Changemaker will come as no surprise, as the Olympian has tirelessly used his platform to advocate for and represent LGBTQ+ people across the world.
As 1.5 billion people tuned into the Commonwealth Games 2022 Opening Ceremony this summer, they were witness to LGBTQ+ history being made as Daley jogged into the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham as part of the Queen’s Baton Relay flanked by four flag bearers waving the Intersex-incluisve Progress Pride Flag to huge cheers from the tens of thousands packed into the stands.
Through this visible moment of solidarity to his BBC documentary, Illegal to Be Me, and by creating a first-of-its-kind manifesto with activists from across the globe, he has put into motion a plan to hopefully start driving positive and progressive change via sporting bodies.
Daley worked with brilliant human rights organisations such as Kaleidoscope Trust, Rainbow Railroad, and Micro Rainbow to make sure he was speaking with the right people, asking the right questions, and ensuring the film achieves what it sets out to do.
GAY TIMES Honours sponsored by Meta Quest celebrates the individuals and organisations who have had a profound effect on the lives of LGBTQ+ people over the past 12 months.
This year’s event saw a star-studded lineup of performers including Tove Lo, Cat Burns, Grag Queen, Kai-Isaiah Jamal and Keanan, as well as a DJ set from Princess Julia.