Tom Daley turned from voice of protest to messenger of hope as the Commonwealth Games opened in Birmingham.
Britain’s Olympic diving champion chose the eve of the XXII Games to make waves by condemning homophobia across the 72 nations and territories that make up the Commonwealth.
To point out that of 56 member states, 35 criminalise same-sex relations, making up half of the countries globally that outlaw homosexuality.
Seven Commonwealth nations, he added, have a maximum penalty of life imprisonment under laws imposed by Britain in the 19th century when it was a colonial power.
And he demanded LGBT+ athletes be safe and feel comfortable being their authentic selves without fear of persecution or death.
It was a powerful and timely intervention from the openly gay star, a man unafraid to dive into political activism. And it hit home.
Which was why as Birmingham opened its doors last night Daley felt he could play a central role by delivering the Queen’s message of inspiration and hope.
In front of a 30,000 crowd at the £72 million Alexander Stadium, Daley joined other stars in passing the Queen's Baton to Prince Charles at the end of its 294-day long journey around the Commonwealth.
Twenty years ago it had been little Kirsty Howard, oxygen unit by her side, stealing our hearts when she and David Beckham did the honours at the start of the 2002 Manchester Games.
This time was less emotional but Daley’s participation sent a signal that Games bosses were fully supportive of his mission to expose the danger and discrimination faced by the LGBT+ community.
“The Commonwealth Games Federation has been willing to talk and willing to hear what we have to say,” he said.
“It’s good to see they’ve started taking a stance towards more inclusion.”
Dame Louise Martin, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, responded: “We see everybody as equal. We don’t see gender, don’t see race, don’t see colour. We see everybody all in one and that’s our ethos and what we’re following.”
The opening ceremony of what is the first multi-sport international meet to offer more medal events for women than men, explored Birmingham’s rich multi-cultural history with 2,000 performers.
Prince Charles arrived in an Aston Martin, the Red Arrows did their thing, 30,000 neon wristbands swayed to the sound of local boys Duran Duran. And the biggest bull you've ever seen took centre stage in , of course, 'the Bullring'.
This was not London 2012, either in scale or budget. Yet just as Danny Boyle told an abridged story of Britain so memorably 10 years ago, so too did artistic director Iqbal Khan here of his beloved Brum.
Stardust is a little thin on the ground in the absence of Dine Asher-Smith, Jonny Brownlee, Max Whitlock and Daley. But ticket sales are huge, upwards of 1.2 million and those at the ''Alex' yesterday evening will long remember the night Britain's second city paused to feel so good about itself.
The Brummie verdict: It was bostin’.
