Tom Daley's husband Dustin Lance Black reveals he's turned down security guards despite receiving death threats because he doesn't want to look 'afraid of being attacked'
- Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, 44, revealed he has received death threats
- But he has turned down security because he doesn't want to 'look afraid'
- Black, who is married to Tom Daley, said they are 'inadvertent role models'
- Couple welcomed son Robert Ray in June last year via an American surrogate
Dustin Lance Black has revealed he has turned down bodyguards despite receiving death threats.
The Californian-born screenwriter, 44, who has an 11-month-old son with husband Tom Daley, 25, admitted his high profile and open approach to his relationship has made him a target for online abuse.
But he explained that despite reporting some death threats to police, he has decided against personal security because he doesn't want to 'look afraid of being attacked'.
Dustin Lance Black, 44, who has an 11-month-old son with husband Tom Daley, 25, admitted his high profile and open approach to his relationship has made him a target for online abuse. However he has decided against security guards because he doesn't want to 'look afraid'
He told the Daily Telegraph: 'Of course, I worry. Too many of my heroes have been cut down, but do I want security guards?
'No. I’ve been offered them in the past. But the more you present yourself as someone afraid of being attacked, the more people see you as someone to attack.'
Share this article
Black and Daley have won widespread praise over their willingness to discuss their journey to fatherhood. They welcomed son Robert Ray in June last year.
The couple have kept in touch with their egg donor and American surrogate and are planning to extend their family soon.
Black and Daley, pictured last week, have won widespread praise over their willingness to discuss their journey to fatherhood. They welcomed son Robert Ray in June last year
Black - who won an Oscar for his screenplay for the 2008 film Milk, about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California - also plays an active role in pushing for greater equality for the LGBTQ community.
However he insisted that he and Daley consider themselves 'inadvertent' role models.
He continued: 'Tom and I had the conversations about it, and early on we said we are just going to live our lives and make our mistakes. There is not going to be any design to being a role model.'
In a separate interview over the weekend, Black, whose memoir Mama's Boy is published this week, revealed he would like to have '10 or 12' more children with his husband but that they will wait until after the Olympics next year to start trying.
The couple have decided against getting a nanny, with Dustin looking after Robert in the mornings while Tom goes to training. Pictured, with their son in an Instagram snap
'We'll see what happens, but I can't imagine us having another one before the Olympics. I don't think Tom would be down with that,' he said.
The couple have decided against getting a nanny, with Dustin looking after Robert in the mornings while Tom goes to training.
Last month Black hit out at British Swimming after he missed out on watching Tom win his latest gold medal at the Diving World Series because he couldn't take Robbie's buggy onto the spectator concourse at London's Aquatic Centre.
He wrote on social media that the organisation had created a 'toxic environment that is unsafe for their family' in an extraordinary rant.
