An Oxford researcher has called Tom Daley’s claim that homophobia in Commonwealth nations originates from a “history of colonialism” “grossly wrong.”
Dr Zareer Masani, a historian who left Mumbai in the 1970s owing to homophobia, told MailOnline: ‘Homophobia did not begin with the British Raj; it started hundreds of years earlier.’
People were killed for being gay under Hindu and Muslim law.’
Daley, a four-time Olympic champion who came out as homosexual in 2013, spent the past year traveling to “the most homophobic nations in the Commonwealth” for his new documentary, Tom Daley: Illegal to Be Me.
‘I’ve been advised that sport and politics shouldn’t mix, but you have to be aware of what’s going on around you,’ he adds in the BBC One program, which aired yesterday night.
Adrian Hilton, a politics expert, claimed the Olympian’s program perpetuated “ahistorical rubbish.”
‘Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam precede the British Empire: the’stem’ of #homophobia is religio-cultural,’ he continues.
The Commonwealth athlete said that addressing the matter with one of his documentary’s interviewees, a “very controversial” Pakistani popstar, provided him with a fresh viewpoint.
‘It opened my eyes to so many different things, where the laws came from, where homophobia originated in the first place, and it is a legacy of colonialism, and chatting with him in particular was quite eye-opening.’
But, according to Dr. Masani, homophobia in India predates British control and has long weathered it, and he advised Daley to “leave the history to the historians.”
He added that while India has made strides towards being a more liberal and accepting society in the past 75 years there has been ‘some rowing back of that under the present regime’ and there is ‘still a lot of homophobia’
‘People don’t come out, and parents don’t accept their homosexual offspring,’ he added.
‘It is not a legal issue; it is a social one.’
‘[Daley] should lay the guilt squarely on the shoulders of the people, not the British Empire.’
Dr. Masani hasn’t seen Daley’s documentary since he’s now in India.
‘It seems to me like he’s on a sort of LGBTQ crusade… since he came out, and now he wants to promote that throughout the Commonwealth,’ he added of Daley.
Members of the public, however, flocked to Twitter yesterday night to congratulate the star diver on the documentary, with many hailing him as a national treasure.
‘Just putting it out there now before the hatred begins,’ one added. #nationaltreasure @BBCSport @BBCOne #TomDaley: it’s unlawful to be me.’
‘We don’t deserve #TomDaley – what a brilliant, poised, gorgeous young man he is,’ said another. #loveislove’
At the beginning of the documentary, the 28-year-old expresses his desire to prevent nations with anti-LGBT legislation from hosting the games. ‘I realize that’s a daring hope,’ he admits, ‘but change has to begin somewhere.’
However, in a promotional interview, Daley said that he had altered his mind on countries with anti-LGBT laws being barred from hosting sporting events.
Daley said on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme that homophobic nations should be allowed to hold athletic events because prohibiting them “puts a bullseye on the back of LGBT people.”
‘Coming in and saying ‘we can’t hold a competition’ targets LGBT people in that nation, as in ‘they are the reason why we can’t host this tournament,’ he says.
‘So being able to approach it with less oppression and giving people the opportunity to learn and grow in such a way that, for example, having the pro-LGBT rights stance at the forefront of the Commonwealth games ethos narrows out certain countries that would be able to host it narrows out certain countries that would be able to host it.
‘I’m not saying they can’t host it, but they need to prioritize it in their ethos.’
The athlete proposed that nations with homophobic legislation show rainbow flags at sporting events to provide players and supporters with a “sign of safety.”
‘Here in the UK, we take our privilege and the presence of rainbow flags for granted, but for those individuals throughout the Commonwealth whose existence is unlawful, that is a symbol of safety and a light of hope.
‘Being able to incorporate LGBT flags in stadiums and athletic events so that those individuals feel comfortable, accepted, and visible, as well as giving them access to the appropriate help and safety measures if their life is in danger.’
Daley interviews Nigerian LGBT rights campaigner Bisi Alimi, who left the nation after coming out on TV, since same-sex conduct is illegal in Nigeria.
Alimi displays athletic law from 1923 Nigeria, which makes ‘indecent activities between guys’ an illegal.
He notes that this eventually became known in Nigeria as “the homosexual legislation.”
‘The minute this legislation came into existence, homosexuality became a criminal crime in Nigeria,’ he claimed, adding that the ban was enforced by Britain.
The athlete then questions Alimi on why Nigeria has not repealed the legislation.
‘You must comprehend that it is more than simply laws in a book. It became part of the school curriculum, and it became part of the theological ideas utilized by colonialists to educate the “natives.”
‘Then there’s the post-colonial development of the Evangelicals, who still feel homosexuality is sinful.’
Politics professors Enze Han and Joseph O’Mahoney, who published an important study on the subject titled ‘British Colonialism and the Criminalization of Homosexuality,’ contend that it is a complicated picture.
They show in their study how, beginning in 1860, the British Empire enacted legislative laws prohibiting personal relationships between males, creating a ‘institutional legacy.’
They examined the’still extremely common assumption that British imperialism “poisoned” cultures against homosexuality’ in their study, but claim that the data is ‘inconclusive at best’.
‘We looked in depth not just at the historical roots of these nations’ anti-homosexuality legislation, but also at the present political processes that have kept some of them from repealing the laws,’ they write on The Conversation.
‘Based on our study, we contend that the evidence in support of the assertion is, at best, inconclusive.
‘Among former colonies with rules like these, former British colonies do not seem to have decriminalized gay behavior any faster than colonies of other European powers.’
‘This shows that the “stickiness” of oppressive institutions is largely similar across various nations and histories, rather than being unique to one sort of colonialism.’
Twitter users have questioned the connection between British colonization and anti-LGBT prejudice, with many referring to hardline religious nations that criminalize homosexual sex.
‘Great to hear Tom Daley on @BBCr4today – a brilliant athlete – not persuaded homophobia in certain nations is completely a ‘legacy of colonialism,’ said Barrister Rupert Myers. Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Ethiopia were never colonized and are openly homophobic.’
Meanwhile, writer Benjamin Butterworth tweeted, “@TomDaley1994 is correct that Britain propagated homophobia across the Commonwealth,” adding, “Britain has to address its past wrongs.”
According to official data, as of July last year, 35 of the 54 Commonwealth nations had laws criminalizing homosexuality.
Daley, who did not participate in this year’s games, has said that after a sudden awakening to the reality that other LGBT sportsmen face, he intends to devote more time to lobbying for gay rights.
‘I was participating in the Commonwealth Games, had just won a gold medal, and was sitting down to eat a burger with my husband and mother.’
‘It occurred to me that I don’t have to be concerned about any of the consequences of that,’ he told The Big Issue.
‘I reflected on how blessed I am. Because it is illegal to be gay in more than half of the Commonwealth nations participating.
‘It’s when I began looking at how that may be combated and what can be done in the realm of sport to assist impact that.’
‘Because athletics has tremendous ability to affect change.’
While traveling across the Commonwealth, Daley, who is married to and has a kid with Oscar-winning director Dustin Lance Black, listened to the challenges of LGBT sportsmen.
‘One of the athletes in Pakistan told me I was the first homosexual guy she’d ever met,’ he claimed.
‘I sobbed when I informed her I had a husband and we were dropping our boy off at nursery, and she, too, cried.
‘She had this moment when she imagined what it would be like to have a wife and children.
‘She was asking what I could do to get her out of the country, and there wasn’t much I could do.
‘So it’ll be a difficult documentary, but it’ll be stuff that people need to hear.’
‘I got an anonymous letter from a homosexual male athlete which again speaks of suicide, talks of how they’re never going to fit in, talks of no hope for the future that they’re ever going to be themselves,’ he also told BBC Radio 4. Hearing some of the tales was just upsetting.’
The Commonwealth Games medalist said that the documentary’s goal is to “convince it to become the first athletic event to really take a position.”
The athlete, who was awarded an OBE in July for services to diving, has now met with the president of the Commonwealth Games Federation to advocate for reform.
This year’s World Cup will be held in Qatar, and the Formula One Grand Prix will be held in Saudi Arabia, both of which are Muslim nations with the death sentence codified in law for same-sex sexual behavior.