First Tom Daley and now, if reports are true, Ja Rule. Two men from completely different worlds are making splashing headlines and not for the talent they are both famous for. Tom, in a YouTube broadcast has told the world that he is in a relationship with a man and Ja Rule’s wife, like a woman scorned, has given us her version of how he allegedly left her for a male prison inmate; cell mates as a pose to soul mates if you will.
Ja Rule’s alleged thug loving is an example though of how his world transcends into something very different. How will this go down? Will the ‘east side’ crew approve? Will he visit Rev Run for some spiritual guidance? Or has the Hip Hop fraternity taken a bad rap; music being the one thing that can truly define the spirit, story and heart of a man?
Tom Daley is now labelled as brave, which implies that as a spokesperson he has all the attributes of a hero. For me, the word that best describes him is blessed not brave. His environment, including the people in it have perhaps given him the confident ability to express, without apprehension, his entitled delight about how he lives his life and who he chooses to share it with.
Brave, are the footballers such as Justin Fashanu who played in an era and arena where homophobic hostility was a painful noise with every pass he took and every goal he scored. Being a gay man on the football pitch didn’t matter to him and is obvious if you have ever seen him play, yet it was homophobia that eventually played a part in his tragic and untimely death.
The turbulent history of this trail blazer has paved the way for a brighter future for the Tom Daley’s of this world and how far we have come as human beings who think any form of hidden life unbearable, is even more inspiring. People suffer so that you don’t have to is what they say and I think who ever said it was absolutely right.
Type in the word gay and the first thing Google and other search engines throw up is a ‘homosexual person’. As I scroll down, I am drawn to the descriptions ‘lighthearted and carefree’, old meanings of this word which have been hidden under judgment and lack of education…if only everyone had a gay disposition.