The 2024 Out100: Tom Daley

It will be hard to imagine an Olympics without Tom Daley. Only 30, the English diver retired this year after representing Great Britain since 2008. The Paris Olympics marked a bright capstone to his career: He took home silver in synchronized 10m platform (adding to a career collection of three bronze and one gold).

His husband Dustin Lance Black and their sons Robbie and Phoenix Rose were there that day, and to “have them there cheering on in the audience was pretty special,” Daley says of the year’s highlight.

Since Daley came out in a 2013 YouTube video, he has used his diving platform to represent the LGBTQ+ community. “I think the most important thing is to just be visible, and be able to be your true authentic self, and be able to do the thing that you love to do and do it well. Do it with pride,” he says.

What’s next? Daley, who went viral for knitting at the Tokyo Olympics, launched his own knitwear line, Made With Love, and he hopes to make greater strides in fashion. @tomdaley

Daniel Reynolds is the editor-in-chief of Out and an award-winning journalist who focuses on the intersection between entertainment and politics. This Jersey boy has now lived in Los Angeles for more than a decade.

Kristoffer Reynolds

Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out. He's also a staff contributor to The Advocate, PRIDE, and other equalpride publications. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida.

You can follow Bernardo Sim on Instagram. You can also find him on Bluesky, Threads, X/Twitter, and TikTok.

Groundbreakers

Varla Jean Merman

Meet some of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.

Kristoffer Reynolds

Varla Jean Merman has been in the business of drag for 30 years, doing her best to “make people laugh, scream, gasp, and sometimes groan…all in a dress completely stretched beyond recognition.”

This drag icon’s 2024 proudest achievement was putting together a Taylor Swift-inspired show called Varla Jean: The Errors Tour. “I explore all the horrible errors I have made in my career, like not telling the director of one of my All My Children episodes that snot flew out of my nose before they aired it,” she says, “and discover that the only real mistake in life is the one you don’t learn from.”

Merman adds, “Living in Florida, I had to not only deal with the government trying to ban my job, but also deal with people in our community, all over our country, wanting to boycott my state. Our country is one body. If your hand hurts, do you cut it off? No. You show it more love and more support until it is well. Florida is filled with amazing LGBTQ+ people who are not responsible for the hideous policies that have occurred.” @varlajeanmerman

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Tom Daley

Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.

Daniel Reynolds

Varla Jean Merman

Meet some of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.