Sat be 'gay in' ahead of AFL's gural Pri Game

Contents:

• WHY IS AFL THE ONLY PRO SPORT TO NEVER HAVE AN OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYER?
• ‘WOULD BE WORTH ALL THAT PRSURE?’: WHY THERE ARE NO OUT GAY MEN PLAYG AFL
• OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS WOULD BE WELED THE AFL: SELWOOD
• WHICH AFL PLAYERS ARE GAY?
• SAT BE 'GAY IN' AHEAD OF AFL'S GURAL PRI GAME
• RUMOUR GAY AFL PLAYERS
• “I KNOW 10 OR 12 GAY AFL PLAYERS” REVEALS JACK VIDGEN ON I’M A CELEB…
• THE AFL’S GROWG PROBLEM WH VISIBILY OF GAY PLAYERS
• AFL NEWS 2023: WHY THERE ARE NO OPENLY GAY AFL MALE FOOTBALLERS
• 'I'VE HAD TO MASK MY FEELGS': A-LEAGUE PLAYER OUT AS GAY EMOTNAL SOCIAL POSTS
• WHICH AFL PLAYERS ARE GAY?
• “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?

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.

I have studied homophobia sport for the past , cludg studi the AFL and 42 other sports at Monash Universy. Why has one of the world’s olst sports never had an openly gay player? However, ’s important to first rrect the mis-perceptn that homophobia is ls of a problem bee is assumed most players are gay.

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.

‘WOULD BE WORTH ALL THAT PRSURE?’: WHY THERE ARE NO OUT GAY MEN PLAYG AFL

Gay and bisexual boys play sport at half the rate of their peers. Dpe this evince, I often hear sport lears and ernment officials say “thgs are a lot better for gay people sport the days. We expected that those who me out would report much ls homophobic behavur (bullyg, asslts, slurs, etc.

OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS WOULD BE WELED THE AFL: SELWOOD

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. Most (82 per cent) gay and bisexual boys also said they tried to hi their sexualy om teammat. LoadgBeyond Blue has found experienc of homophobic discrimatn sport is associated wh clil anxiety and prsn, risk factors for suici.

Homophobic behavur youth sport is an issue of child protectn.

WHICH AFL PLAYERS ARE GAY?

This is why there are no openly gay or bisexual male AFL do we fix this problem? Ian Roberts, Atralia’s first openly gay athlete, has been llg on sport and ernment lears to protect young people om homophobic abe sce 1997. They signed a mment to be “world lears” “creatg clive sportg cultur and elimatg homophobia our sports.

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.

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

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.

”Our own rearch has found the AFL has done ls on the issue of homophobia than any other major sport Atralia, or globally. Scientists have also found the Atralian Sports Commissn has turned a bld eye to homophobic abe sport.

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. If the Tom Morris tap ed women the football media to wonr, aga, what men were sayg about them behd their backs, the laddish tone and homophobic language ed the rerdgs also raised the qutn: how tolerant is the AFL dtry, really, of LGBTQI people?

RUMOUR GAY AFL PLAYERS

AFLW is a safe place for openly gay women. But there are still no out gay men playg Atralian football at the hight level.

There are gay men (not players) workg football who feel accepted by their lleagu, but none wanted to speak to The Age and Sydney Morng Herald about the issue for the same reasons they have not e out publicly: ’s not worth the hassle and, if they have a public profile, ’s not worth the backlash they might attract on social are no publicly out male AFL players at the Richard Giliberto When to players, says North Melbourne AFLW pta Emma Kearney, some clubs are more diverse and acceptg than others. While the prence of women’s teams wh many openly gay players may have brought some cultural change, she says 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 last year. “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.

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

”North Melbourne pta Emma Kearney is out to the Stt MccNghtonTake the experience of A-League player Josh Cavallo, who last October 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 hted at how much prsure would fall on the first AFL player to announce he was gay. ”Conversatns wh four AFL club chief executiv, three heads of football and more than 10 players om different age groups revealed a nsens: none was aware of one male AFL footballer who was openly is que possible that there are gay male players who are happy and accepted by their clubs, but not prepared to share their sexualy one player said to another last week: “The first gay AFL footballer will make a lot of money, but would be worth wh all that prsure?

Nor did he want to be a target for homophobic broadster Corb Middlemas, who me out 2018, reads Fox’s sackg of Morris as a sign of thentic change the football landspe.

THE AFL’S GROWG PROBLEM WH VISIBILY OF GAY PLAYERS

”In that may be discerned the reason any gay male footballer would keep his, how to balance the right to self-protectn agast some sort of rponsibily to be a bean for others? ”He said homophobia often me hand--hand wh toxic masculy, and this may dissua players om g out regardls of how clive their immediate circle is. “The culture wh male teams sport, om grassroots level all the way up to the ele, has often gone hand--hand wh homophobic language.

And that has rerced this perceptn among the players that are gay that they will not be accepted by people. ”There is also a perceptn that a player g out as gay may be an unnecsary distractn, that the attentn may tract om what the player and his team are tryg to achieve. “I thk [that is] passive homophobia, ” Ball said.

It’s damagg, is a passive homophobia and ’s an unhelpful double standard.

AFL NEWS 2023: WHY THERE ARE NO OPENLY GAY AFL MALE FOOTBALLERS

“There’s no doubt that there are gay players the AFL.

”Kearney believ is up to sports to reform, not gay sportspeople to nform.

“If you look at sport around the world, there are so many openly gay women, and yet I uld probably unt on my hands the number of openly gay male athlet, ” she said. What is a stereotypil gay woman vers what is a stereotypil gay man? If you look at ballet, dancg, those sorts of pursus, they’re emed as more female specific, and there are more openly gay men.

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

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 is yet to have a male openly gay or bisexual player, but the AFLW has led the way celebratg change.

WHICH AFL PLAYERS ARE GAY?

”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. Rumour: A Collgwood player is to bee the first openly gay AFL player.

They ll GayFL — but that’s the one thg is not. ‘As ever when a profsnal sportsman outs himself as gay, the qutn begs: why have none emerged the AFL? 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.

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

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