'I've had to mask my feelgs': A-League player out as gay emotnal social posts

Contents:

• WHICH AFL PLAYERS ARE GAY?
• SAT BE 'GAY IN' AHEAD OF AFL'S GURAL PRI GAME
• “I KNOW 10 OR 12 GAY AFL PLAYERS” REVEALS JACK VIDGEN ON I’M A CELEB…
• WHY IS AFL THE ONLY PRO SPORT TO NEVER HAVE AN OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYER?
• THEY LL GAYFL - BUT THAT’S THE ONE THG IS NOT
• RUMOUR GAY AFL PLAYERS
• 'I'VE HAD TO MASK MY FEELGS': A-LEAGUE PLAYER OUT AS GAY EMOTNAL SOCIAL POSTS
• ‘NO WORDS’: GAY ATRALIAN FOOTBALLER JOSH CAVALLO LLS OUT HOMOPHOBIC CROWD ABE
• THE AFL’S GROWG PROBLEM WH VISIBILY OF GAY PLAYERS

WHICH AFL PLAYERS ARE GAY?

There are so many different typ of sexual orientatn om heterosexual through to asexual, homosexual, bisexual and more. 2% of the adult populatn Atralia intified as homosexual or bisexual. While beg the face of a gay movement might sound good theory, when ’s your face and private life splashed through the media, ’s a lot to take .

A gay AFL player might prefer to stay out of the spotlight to avoid placg their reer the media’s hand.

In 2019, the fullback ma an anti-gay ment on social media (not for the first time), statg that gays will go to hell. While Rugby Atralia acted the right manner and termated his posn, shows we have a long way to e before beg gay is accepted. If beg gay don’t affect their performance (which clearly don’t), then why is somethg they should have to brg up the first place?

SAT BE 'GAY IN' AHEAD OF AFL'S GURAL PRI GAME

While would be nice to live a world where people don’t bat an eyelid about beg gay, we’re not que there yet.

While we have e a long way when to LGBT rights, we still have a long way to go towards equaly and breakg down barriers and there’s no way of predictg the effect of g out gay.

6) Homophobic slurs. The biggt ncern for many gay athlet is how their teammat will see them.

“I KNOW 10 OR 12 GAY AFL PLAYERS” REVEALS JACK VIDGEN ON I’M A CELEB…

Many gay people fd hard enough g out to their immediate fay. Breakg through gay stereotyp. If you want to ppot another reason that gay athlet are proment the media, ’s thanks to the gay stereotyp that are monplace society.

We have a huge anti-gay history behd , which is still very proment many different religns.

WHY IS AFL THE ONLY PRO SPORT TO NEVER HAVE AN OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYER?

There’s the belief that gay men are weaker than straight men. “Gay is soft”.

THEY LL GAYFL - BUT THAT’S THE ONE THG IS NOT

“Gay is weak”. “Gay isn’t manly”. It’s a giant barrier standg the way for many of our gay athlet.

RUMOUR GAY AFL PLAYERS

In 2019, Andy Brennan beme the first Atralian profsnal male footballer to e out as gay while still playg.

'I'VE HAD TO MASK MY FEELGS': A-LEAGUE PLAYER OUT AS GAY EMOTNAL SOCIAL POSTS

“I’m gay, ” he wrote  an say published by Profsnal Footballers Atralia, the players’ unn. Acrdg to Jack Vidgen, a star on Atralia’s “I’m A Celebry… Get Me Out Of Here”, he personally knows at least 10 or 12 AFL players who are gay. Support for gay AFL players.

This support needs to e om ach, managers, fans, teammat, and society as a whole, but orr to get there, we need to end the discrimatn, excln, and stereotyp, so that beg gay be a non-issue. Once beg gay is no longer an issue, we will see more and more players g out. SAM GILBERT, gay in.

‘NO WORDS’: GAY ATRALIAN FOOTBALLER JOSH CAVALLO LLS OUT HOMOPHOBIC CROWD ABE

It might not be a scriptor the St Kilda fenr ever expected, but, acrdg to Jason Ball (Atralian Football's first openly gay male player), the scriptn is que, a 28-year-old centre half-back for Victorian untry club Yarra Glen, explaed how highly Gilbert is thought of by the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, tersex and qutng (LGBTIQ) muny. "He's bee a gay in a way, " Ball said of the veteran Sats fenr. "It sent a msage to other people the sportg world that sayg no to homophobia don't make you ls of a man.

"I me to unrstand a lot of the homophobic language and behavur wasn't g om a place of hatred towards me or gay people, but rather jt ignorance and not knowg the impact on me, " Ball said. "Once I was out, that homophobic language fad.

"(They weren't) necsarily directed at me, but every time I would hear those words, felt like a remr if they found out I was gay, I wouldn't be accepted.

THE AFL’S GROWG PROBLEM WH VISIBILY OF GAY PLAYERS

"Ball was 12 when he realised he was gay. "Acrdg to the study Out On The Fields, which documented the experienc of gay, lbian and bisexual people team sports, 87 per cent of young gay Atralians felt pelled to hi their sexualy some hid his sexualy om his football club for many years, but he had ma a promise to himself he would not lie about if ever knew tryg to fabrite tal about experienc wh women would get him ught was openly gay while studyg at Melbourne Universy, so when an old school iend me to the football club, Ball's sexualy soon beme an open secret, although he remaed unaware others night after trag, while talkg to a teammate, the nversatn shifted and Ball was asked about his personal life. He was able to proudly intify as a gay cisn to e out publicly was supported by Yarra Glen, which ntu to back Ball his 's experienc have shown him people are pable of change.