Tom Daley just came out as having a boyfriend—get the scoop on his much older man.
By Jessica Sager — Written on Dec 04, 2013
Olympic diver Tom Daley made waves when he came out in a candid, rather adorable and moving YouTube video this week. So who's the lucky guy dating the 19-year-old U.K. Speedo-sporting hunk? His name is Dustin Lance Black, he's 39 and pretty awesome!
He was raised Mormon.
As a result, Black hid his sexuality for years for fear of parental disapproval ... or worse. Thankfully, he was able to use his experience within the controversial church as a screenwriter for every season of Big Love, the HBO series about a polygamist family.
He's an Academy Award winner.
Black nabbed the Best Screenplay Oscar for Milk, his film about the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California.
He works with Academy Award winners, too.
Sean Penn starred in Milk, as did one-time Oscar host James Franco. He also wrote J. Edgar, which starred multiple-time nominee Leonardo DiCaprio.
He's an activist for LGBTQ rights.
He wore a white knot—a symbol of support for same-sex marriage—to the 2009 Academy Awards, where he spoke of how Harvey Milk gave him hope. Since then, he's given speeches at the National Equality March and more. He also frequently uses his work to explore the struggles of LGBTQ discrimination, narrating films 8: The Mormon Proposition and 8, his own play about the controversial anti-gay marriage measure. In 2010, he joined the Board of Directors for the Trevor Project.
He's had a nude photo scandal.
Perez Hilton published nude photos of Black engaging in unsafe sex. Once they were published, he spoke out on the matter. "It is unfortunate that individuals and other outside parties are trying to profit from material which is clearly private," Black said at the time. "I have had the privilege to speak to people across the country, both gay and straight, on a number of critical issues including safe sex. More important than the embarrassment of this incident is the misleading message these images send. I apologize and cannot emphasize enough the importance of responsible sexual practices."
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