Josh Cavallo is one of the few male top-level footballers to e out as gay : NPR

Contents:

• ANDY BRENNAN IS FIRST MALE ATRALIAN FOOTBALLER TO E OUT AS 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?
• THE AFL’S GROWG PROBLEM WH VISIBILY OF GAY PLAYERS
• ‘I HAVE BEEN FIGHTG MY SEXUALY’: A-LEAGUE MEN PLAYER JOSH CAVALLO OUT AS GAY
• SAT BE 'GAY IN' AHEAD OF AFL'S GURAL PRI GAME
• 'I'VE HAD TO MASK MY FEELGS': A-LEAGUE PLAYER OUT AS GAY EMOTNAL SOCIAL POSTS
• RUMOUR GAY AFL PLAYERS
• WHICH AFL PLAYERS ARE GAY?
• ‘I N UNRSTAND’: GAY PLAYERS THE AFL ‘CHOOSG NOT TO BE FIRST’ OUT PUBLICLY SAYS GILL MCLACHLAN
• FORMER HAWTHORN PRINT JEFF KENT BELIEV UP TO 40 AFL PLAYERS ARE GAY BUT FEAR BEG RIDICULED
• JAM FLKNER'S 'GAY' INSTAGRAM POST SLAMMED BY FORMER AFL PLAYER JASON BALL
• JOSH CAVALLO BE ONE OF THE FEW PROFSNAL MEN'S FOOTBALLERS TO E OUT AS GAY
• OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS WOULD BE WELED THE AFL: SELWOOD
• MEET THE 16 OUT GAY AND BI FOOTBALL PLAYERS THE NFL’S 103-YEAR HISTORY

ANDY BRENNAN IS FIRST MALE ATRALIAN FOOTBALLER TO E OUT AS GAY

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.

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

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. “I probably know about 10 or 12 footy players, I’d never say their name, that are gay but they wouldn’t e out, ” Vidgen said. 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.

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

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. 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.

THE AFL’S GROWG PROBLEM WH VISIBILY OF GAY PLAYERS

Homophobic behavur youth sport is an issue of child protectn. 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.

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

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.

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

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. 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.

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

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. But once the acclaim had died down, he field homophobic slurs and ath threats.

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.

RUMOUR GAY AFL PLAYERS

Fox Footy sacked reporter Tom Morris over sexist and homophobic remarks he ma about a female lleague as well as separate racist slurs. 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?

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.

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. Ashamed I would never be able to do what I loved and be gay.

WHICH AFL PLAYERS ARE GAY?

“Beg a gay closeted footballer, I’ve had to learn to mask my feelgs orr to f the mould of a profsnal footballer.

Growg up beg gay and playg football were jt two worlds that hadn’t crossed paths before. 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.

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

”Globally there are only a handful of openly gay male footballers, none of whom are playg the top flight. 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.

SAM GILBERT, gay in. 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.

FORMER HAWTHORN PRINT JEFF KENT BELIEV UP TO 40 AFL PLAYERS ARE GAY BUT FEAR BEG RIDICULED

"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.

"Ball was 12 when he realised he was gay.

JAM FLKNER'S 'GAY' INSTAGRAM POST SLAMMED BY FORMER AFL PLAYER JASON BALL

"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.

JOSH CAVALLO BE ONE OF THE FEW PROFSNAL MEN'S FOOTBALLERS TO E OUT AS GAY

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. "Gilbert believ the AFL is ready for s first openly gay player, but only when a person feels fortable enough to go down that path. Alai Uned midfielr Josh Cavallo hop more profsnal footballers will follow his lead and publicly announce that they’re gay.

OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS WOULD BE WELED THE AFL: SELWOOD

Cavallo on Wednday beme a rary profsnal sport: an openly gay male athlete. “It’s astonishg to know that there are currently no gay profsnal footballers who are out and actively playg, not only Atralia, but around the world. “Ashamed I would never be able to do what I loved and be gay, ” he wrote.

“Beg a closeted gay footballer, I’ve had to learn to mask my feelgs orr to f the mould of a profsnal footballer. “Growg up beg gay and playg football were jt two worlds that hadn’t crossed paths before.

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.

MEET THE 16 OUT GAY AND BI FOOTBALL PLAYERS THE NFL’S 103-YEAR HISTORY

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.

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.