British Olympic diver Tom Daley on
Thursday criticized President Donald Trump.
The 23-year-old Daley, who in May
married Hollywood screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, hosted the Virgin
Holidays Attitude Awards in London. The sixth annual event
celebrates “the great and good of the LGBT+ community and its
allies.”
In opening the show, Daley ran down
some of the most powerful recent events that affected the LGBT
community.
“A racist, misogynist, homophobic,
transphobic cheese puff colored reality TV star became president of
the United States,” Daley told the audience. “But we've also
seen openly LGBT people elected heads of state in Ireland and
Serbia.”
“Australia said, 'Sure, let's put a
minority's basic rights up to a majority vote,' while Germany,
Finland and Taiwan embraced marriage equality.”
“Still, in places like Chechnya, Iran
and Uganda our brothers and sisters are fighting for their lives,”
he added.
Daley also recognized the hard fought
rights secured by those who came before him.
“I stand here tonight on the
shoulders of those brave enough to fight for a life like mine before
I was even born,” Daley said. “That said, the equality we enjoy
here isn't shared around the world.”