A letter to the first openly gay AFL player

Alai Uned’s Josh Cavallo has publicly e out as gay, beg the first male profsnal Atralian footballer to do so durg their playg days. * first gay afl player *

"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.

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

Acrdg to the game's first openly gay player, Jason Ball, "The AFL ref to have a signated rource to foc on this particular area." * first gay afl player *

Well, you… the soon-to-be first openly gay AFL you’re readg this your lol nail salon while gettg your weekly mani-pedi, or listeng to your Lady Gaga albums as you lour- your ridiculoly oversized maybe stereotyp are bbish and you’re jt a young man who lov playg footy, is attracted to other men and hat The Real Hoewiv of Atlanta jt as much as the rt of self-appoted ‘normal’ blok.

Be race, relign, appearance, disabily, or sexual orientatn, there are people ppg discrimatn every day who fd easier to keep AFL Players’ Associatn recently lnched a mpaign agast the e of homophobic language football. Some small nam too, like Matt Spangher, the guy you’ve probably never heard of who wanted to take a stand for his gay sister, as did Carlton midfielr Brock basketball veteran Jason Colls me out April. There will always be policians too sred to do the right thg for fear of losg their people aren’t gog away, and neher should gay is not a choice, jt is.

There are also some AFL footballers who are homosexual, and plenty of those likely f to more than one of the above groups as why do we need you to e out?

‘I HAVE BEEN FIGHTG MY SEXUALY’: A-LEAGUE MEN PLAYER JOSH CAVALLO OUT AS GAY

AFL chief Gillon McLachlan has revealed there are gay AFL players who have e out to their teammat, addg that he unrstands why they chose not to publicly clare their sexualy." name="scriptn * first gay afl player *

Suici Atralia is hight among young homosexual mal and Indigeno youth, often stgglg to e to terms wh beg different and the ridicule that you n’t take a physil stand like Nicky Wmar or Adam Goos. The Pri Game iative was spearhead by Victorian player Jason Ball, the 's first openly gay male player, an effort to promote unrstandg the AFL and among s fans. "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 a no current top-level player is openly gay, Ball told the ABC he believed the event would be "life changg.

‘I N UNRSTAND’: GAY PLAYERS THE AFL ‘CHOOSG NOT TO BE FIRST’ OUT PUBLICLY SAYS GILL MCLACHLAN

High-profile edian Joel Creasey says no AFL players have e out as gay bee of the ramifitns for their reer. He said the burn of beg known as the "first gay AFL footballer" would be a huge burn for any player to rry. * first gay afl player *

Jack Vidgen, one of the stars on Atralia’s I’m A Celebry… Get Me Out Of Here!, has revealed that he knows 10 or 12 gay Atralian Football League players, reports. Vidgen, who ma a name for himself on Atralia’s Got Talent, was talkg about homosexualy sport wh former AFL stars Travis Vare and Robert “Dipper” DiPerdomeni. A-League Men midfielr Josh Cavallo says he knows there are other players “livg silence” after beg the only known current male top-flight profsnal footballer the world to e out as gay.

JOSH CAVALLO BE FIRST ATRALIAN MALE FOOTBALLER TO E OUT AS GAY WHILE STILL PLAYG

Geelong great Joel Selwood says he would be proud to see a male AFL player e out as gay, clarg there is now a “safety blanket” place terms of club culture." name="scriptn * first gay afl player *

Labor senate lear and openly gay woman, Penny Wong, tweeted: “Any young person who is stgglg wh their inty, or feelg exclud or judged, n look today to Josh Cavallo.

Amerin former Leeds player Robbie Rogers also announced he was gay on retirg 2013, before returng to the field wh LA Galaxy and wng the MLS Cup to bee the first openly gay male athlete to w a major profsnal team sports tle the Uned 2019, former Newstle Jets player Andy Brennan beme Atralia’s first profsnal male footballer to e out while still playg the game. “It is astonishg to know that there are currently no gay profsnal footballers who are out and actively playg, not only Atralia, but around the world.

WHICH AFL PLAYERS ARE GAY?

Are there no gay men AFL footy, or are they fearful of speakg up? Soccer player Josh Cavallo’s g out this week re-pos this mystifyg qutn." name="scriptn * first gay afl player *

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan says he n unrstand why gay players the men’s petn wouldn’t want to e out due to the “prsure and weight” of beg the first to do so. Start your ee trial now >“The first thg I’d say is, I am very fortable there are gay male players and I am very fortable ( sayg) they are known to their teammat, ” McLachlan said on Monday.

And those wh flawsListen below or subscribe Apple Podsts or SpotifyThe AFL remas one of the only sportg s Atralia whout an openly gay player.

Alai Uned’s Josh Cavallo has publicly e out as gay, beg the first male profsnal Atralian footballer to do so durg their playg 21-year-old young Socceroo ma the announcement on Wednday, clarg he was “proud to publicly announce I am gay” an emotnal statement on Twter.

GAY AFL PLAYERS CHOOSG NOT TO E OUT TO AVOID PRSURE OF BEG FIRST: MCLACHLAN

* first gay afl player *

He said he wanted to create a safe space for others to e active and openly gay mal playg profsnal football elsewhere the world clu Coll Mart, who plays for San Diego Loyal the send tier of football the USA, as well as Phuti Lekoloane, who plays South Ai’s third his statement, Cavallo said he knew the potential negative repercsns of his announcement but hoped his cisn to e out would spire other closeted male footballers and “show that everyone is wele the game of football”. 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 . 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.

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.

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. 29amAFL CEO Gillon McLachlan says there are gay AFL players who are out to their teammat, but have chosen not to e out publicly to avoid the burn that would e wh beg the first.

AFL'S EQUALY EFFORTS NTUE, BUT DIFFICULTI FOR GAY PLAYERS REMA

There are no current men’s players who have publicly clared that they are chief Gillon AFL Photos“The first thg I’d say is, I am very fortable there are gay male players and I am very fortable [sayg that] they are known to their teammat, ” McLachlan said. There is an annual pri game between St Kilda and Sydney’s men’s Melbourne AFLW pta Emma Kearney told The Age last year that some clubs are more diverse and acceptg than others, and not every locker room would be a fortable place for a gay man. But I thk as a whole, particularly the AFL men’s space, I don’t thk there’s an environment where gay [male] players n be their te selv, ” said Kearney, who me out publicly 2021.

“Whether ’s fear of hate om the players, or more so fear of the discrimatn they’ll face beg one of the first gay athlet, and the hate on their social media acunts as a rult. ”A-League player Josh Cavallo publicly me out Getty ImagIn 2021, A-League player Josh Cavallo beme the first active top-flight male profsnal footballer the world to e out as gay. There was an outpourg of love and support for Cavallo om around the world, but ltle more than two months later, he was the target of homophobic slurs om over the fence, ath threats and “hateful and hurtful msag” on social November last year, Melbourne Uned basketballer Isaac Humphri me out as the first openly gay man to play the Natnal Basketball League.

Jonno Nash and Charlie HappellOct 26, 2017, 04:33 AM ETHigh-profile edian Joel Creasey says no AFL players have e out as gay bee of the ramifitns for their reer. Creasey disclos his book, 'Thirsty: Confsns of a Fame Whore', that he prevly had a flg wh a "bloody good" footballer who's still the system, but he believ the first gay AFL player to publicly reveal their sexual orientatn will forever be known as "the gay player".

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

"I always hear the story that there are no gay people the AFL and I'm like, 'there are' and gay people are allowed to play AFL, " Creasey said an terview promotg his new book. "I have been to the football a few tim, and I'm not a big AFL football fan, and I have been stg the stands and I've heard lots of [anti-gay slurs] ed as tnts to players and yelled out. 30pmFew people realise the men’s AFL is the only major profsnal male sport the world to never have had an openly gay or bisexual player, even after is why the cisn by the NFL’s Carl Nassib to e out as gay this week while still playg Amerin football ph Atralian football further off the crowd field of cln.

Nassib may be the first active NFL player to e out, but he’s actually the 16th gay NFL player sce 1975 – that’s close to the same number of players on an AFL Vegas Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib me out this APThe total visibily of gay or bisexual AFL players be even more ncerng when you nsir the multiple gay and bisexual players basketball, ice hockey, baseball, gby unn, gby league, cricket, soccer, and smaller sports like curlg, hurlg and lacrosse. It also ters many girls, both straight and gay, om playg ntact sports like AFL or rearch has found between 15-20 per cent of female AFL players are not heterosexual. Visibily is clearly important, particularly to children, but the visibily of male AFL players is a symptom of ser a problem that has long been ignored by the AFL and other erng is extensive evince om Atralia and overseas that gay and bisexual children, as well as heterosexual youth, are beg harmed by systemic homophobic behavurs muny and school sport settgs.

GAY FOOTBALLER AND ACTIVIST JASON BALL REFLECTS ON G OUT

That’s not what we boys and girls who me out to others sport were signifintly more likely to report homophobic victimisatn than those who remaed the closet. This rearch found most activy to addrs this problem is beg driven by small chari, such as Pri Cup or Proud2Play, or muny sport clubs, while the mments ma by the lears of the AFL and the other sports have not been players om the Yarra Glen Football Club take part rearch nducted to better unrstand the drivers and harm ed by homophobic language sport. The club has been at the foreont of tacklg Monash UniversyOne of those papers, published the world’s top sport dtry journal, said erng bodi e rabow-themed social media posts and pri gam to create a false illn (ln) they are takg actn on homophobia, when realy, almost nothg is beg done beyond “lip service or happy talk.

Olympic legend Ian Thorpe mpaigned Febary 2020 on the Relig Discrimatn Alex EllghsenThere is no mentn of LGBT people nor of any fundg to addrs homophobia sport. The omissn of LGBT people needs to be urgently fixed and an vtigatn is need to terme why homophobia sport is nsistently ernments and sport lears start prrisg protectg children om harmful homophobic behavurs sport, we’ll be talkg about the lack of openly gay male athlet the AFL and other sports for many years to Denison is a behavural science rearcher at Monash Universy’s School of Social Scienc who vtigat solutns to homophobia sport.

MORE: JASON BALL CALLS ON FANS TO END HOMOPHOBIAWhile our AFL players don’t yet have a gay teammate to publicly support, they have not been silent when to beg seen and heard as straight alli agast homophobia. Carlton Footballer Brock McLean beme the first AFL player to bee an ambassador for Athlete Ally, an anisatn foced on endg homophobia and transphobia sport by tg alli the athletic muny and empowerg them to take a stand.

OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS WOULD BE WELED THE AFL: SELWOOD

MORE: JASON BALL’S COURAGE WILL TRUMP IGNORANCESiarly, last year durg Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia (IDAHO) some of the biggt nam the AFL, cludg Stt Pendlebury, Drew Petrie, Le Ball and Jobe Watson, took part a social media mpaign ordated by the AFL Players Associatn, makg a pledge never to e homophobic language and raisg awarens about the damagg impacts has on the mental health and wellbeg of young GLBTI AFL players, I n image that they would want to avoid dog anythg that uld risk puttg them at a them, football is their reer. Wh the public and media’s tert the story of a gay footballer g out so strong, a football club uld view this as an unnecsary admistrative I me out publicly, I felt was my duty to talk through wh my team. Read more: #StandTall #CBR #MarriageEqualy— GWS GIANTS (@GWS_Giants) December 9, 2013For any gay AFL player, there uld be some trepidatn that g out would mean that their homosexualy may fe them for the rt of their playg reer.

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

However, there is no nyg that is a huge part of who I am, and hidg was mentally I was 13-years-old, stgglg to e to terms wh who I was a blokey, macho, football environment, if I had’ve known of such thg as a gay footballer, that he uld be out to his teammat and that wasn’t a big al, that would have ma a world of difference to my story h the news, the most rewardg thg has been receivg letters, emails or tweets om young GLTBI people, who tell me that hearg my story has given them the urage to e out to their iends, e out to their parents, or even e out to their football an amatr footballer like myself has been able make posive a difference a few people’s liv, jt image the impact that an AFL player, beg open and proud about who they are, uld also Jason Ball on Twter @jasonball88 Jason Ball is an ambassador for beyondblue.

Geelong pta Joel Selwood says he would be “proud” to see a male AFL player e out as gay, clarg there is now a “safety blanket” place terms of club the Cats lnched their specially signed jumper for Friday night’s Pri Round AFLW clash wh Collgwood at GMHBA Stadium, Selwood said any openly gay male player would be weled.

THE AFL’S GROWG PROBLEM WH VISIBILY OF GAY PLAYERS

”What is seen as a more acceptg AFL men’s culture after Alai Uned A-League player Josh Cavallo revealed late last year he was gay, beg the first man top-tier football worldwi to do so. Football Atralia has issued Melbourne Victory wh a show e notice after Cavallo said he received homophobic abe om the club’s supporters durg an A-League clash. ‘I’m still pchg myself’: Josh Cavallo was overwhelmed by worldwi Alai UnedIn 1990, Englishman Jt Fashanu beme the first player to open up about beg gay while still playg top-level soccer.

Eight years later, he died by Alai Uned’s Josh Cavallo me out this week, he beme the only openly gay, active, fully profsnal male footballer the biggt game the world. Three s on, the fact of gay men ele team sport has not been answer n only be that there are still too few of them, or that they are not prepared to reveal themselv. A young gay sportsman is likely to have agonised for years until arrivg at a pot where the price of hidg his te self was takg a greater toll than whatever st to reveal .

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

“Our own rearch has found the AFL has done ls on the issue of homophobia than any other major sport Atralia - or globally, ” Denilson wrote earlier this year. Though has a polemil rg to , the fact is that still no gay AFL player has emerged nnot be mere Getty ImagSo much of the spasmodic nversatn about gay men profsnal sport is njecture bee so few thorative voic are heard. SportAFLLGBTQThis was published 1 year agoOpnIn one key rpect, the AFL is lookg creasgly out of touch wh our broar society: the glarg lack of anybody the male playg group who is out and openly gay when, most other spher of life, people now feel fortable and safe to e wh sensible morn rporatns, the AFL’s executiv and key figur are well versed the phraseology of diversy and clivy.

The AFLW petn clus many LGBTQ players, a fact that go virtually unremarked upon, and clubs Sydney and St Kilda play an annual pri Cavallo of the Alai Uned A-League men’s Getty ImagOf urse a person’s sexualy is their own bs and nobody would wish that someone felt prsured to e out as gay. No doubt much of the attentn would be posive, but there would probably also be a luge of hate – across the fence, on talkback rad, perhaps om others on the field, and particularly the cspools of social A-League player Josh Cavallo beme the first active top-flight male profsnal soccer player the world to e out as gay, he received enormo support om some quarters, cludg landg a lucrative sponsorship.

It will not be enough for the petn to say is none of s bs, or, worse, to rely on a particular player orr to market self as an “clive” Denison, a behavural science rearcher at Monash Universy’s School of Social Scienc, wrote The Age last year that “the visibily of [gay] male AFL players is a symptom of a ser problem that has long been ignored by the AFL and other erng bodi”, which is that people actually fear g out, fear beg themselv. His own rearch suggted the AFL had done “ls on the issue of homophobia than any other major sport Atralia, or globally” ti may slowly be turng. As Greg Bm and Sam McClure wrote on Monday of the Morris tap, “The laddish tone and homophobic language ed the rerdgs also raised the qutn: how tolerant is the AFL dtry, really, of LGBTQI people?

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR U.S. PRO LEAGUE TO E OUT AS GAY

While footballers, umpir, ach and club staff who are gay feel forced to ny a part of themselv and are unable to live their liv fully the open, the game suffers, and so do the broar is such a large part of our social and cultural liv, and so many boys want to be a part of that has a duty to try to support people of all sexuali. Ined, Ball knows first-hand the damagg impact homophobic attus have on people a club environment, and how they n lead to lifelong mental health issu for those stgglg to e out. “It’s gog to force the AFL to rethk a lot of their polici and approach to this issue, ” Ball told Jason Ball, an LGBTI advote and first openly gay male footy player at any level.

They AFL already should have been there wh the male game, but now that we have visibily wh the gay athlet the women’s league has bee more apparent and more urgent for them to do that. Not only is petg wh the h, morn and diverse culture of the AFLW, but outdated notns of masculy and femy and what means to be straight and NEW ERA: HOW AFLW IS SHOWING UP ITS BIGGER BROTHER GWS AFLW marquee Emma Swanson me out when she was has sce been thrown to the AFL paradigm as a young gay woman who is unthreatened by the spotlight of her sexualy. “If the suatn that a player at the Wtern Bulldogs me out, I know my heart that if someone laid themselv bare like that and were vulnerable enough to talk about , we would put our arms around them, and if we felt the need to protect them om the noise outsi, we would, ” he Bulldogs are one of eight clubs to have women’s teams so the topic of sexualy may be more prevalent the Whten Oval locker Angie Greene, an activist for stampg out homophobia and transphobia sport through her chary Stand Up Events, says ’s not that simple.

“I don’t thk ’s as clear cut as beg a simple transn to the culture, ” Greene told “But havg said that, a lot of the women are out and are gay. ”THE COMMON FEARWHILE players such as Swanson are on the rerd as beg gay, a number of female players are still terred om speakg about their sexualy. ”Last weekend Fairfax reported that Penny Cula-Reid and Mia-Rae Clifford were the first openly gay AFLW was an credibly urageo move by the pair — but one which other upl wh the AFLW sphere may not feel embolned to py.

Kev Maxen be first male ach a US men’s pro sports league to publicly e out as gay | CNN

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