‘No words’: gay Atralian footballer Josh Cavallo lls out homophobic crowd abe | A-League Men | The Guardian

Contents:

• WHY IS AFL THE ONLY PRO SPORT TO NEVER HAVE AN OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYER?
• SAT BE 'GAY IN' AHEAD OF AFL'S GURAL PRI GAME
• GAY AFL PLAYERS CHOOSG NOT TO E OUT TO AVOID PRSURE OF BEG FIRST: MCLACHLAN
• WHICH AFL PLAYERS ARE GAY?
• RUMOUR GAY AFL PLAYERS
• THE GAY MAN'S GUI TO ATRALIAN FOOTBALL'S HOTTT HUNKS
• “I KNOW 10 OR 12 GAY AFL PLAYERS” REVEALS JACK VIDGEN ON I’M A CELEB…
• 'I DIDN'T KNOW ANY FOOTBALLERS WHO WERE GAY'
• ‘I N UNRSTAND’: GAY PLAYERS THE AFL ‘CHOOSG NOT TO BE FIRST’ OUT PUBLICLY SAYS GILL MCLACHLAN
• JOSH CAVALLO BE ONE OF THE FEW PROFSNAL MEN'S FOOTBALLERS TO E OUT AS GAY
• THE AFL’S GROWG PROBLEM WH VISIBILY OF GAY PLAYERS
• ANDY BRENNAN IS FIRST MALE ATRALIAN FOOTBALLER TO E OUT AS GAY
• ‘NO WORDS’: GAY ATRALIAN FOOTBALLER JOSH CAVALLO LLS OUT HOMOPHOBIC CROWD ABE
• ‘I HAVE BEEN FIGHTG MY SEXUALY’: A-LEAGUE MEN PLAYER JOSH CAVALLO OUT AS GAY
• 'I'VE HAD TO MASK MY FEELGS': A-LEAGUE PLAYER OUT AS GAY EMOTNAL SOCIAL POSTS

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.

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

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.

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

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. 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.

RUMOUR GAY AFL PLAYERS

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. 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.

THE GAY MAN'S GUI TO ATRALIAN FOOTBALL'S HOTTT HUNKS

"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.

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

"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.

"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. Gay AFL players choosg not to e out to avoid prsure of beg first: McLachlanBy Staff reportersApril 4, 2023 — 11. 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.

'I DIDN'T KNOW ANY FOOTBALLERS WHO WERE GAY'

Speakg at a Learship Matters lunch Perth on Monday, McLachlan said AFLW players, many of whom are openly gay, had safety numbers.

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.

“So the prsure and the weight on that person beg the first AFL player who out and plays as an out gay man...

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

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.

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

”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. 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.

THE AFL’S GROWG PROBLEM WH VISIBILY OF GAY PLAYERS

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.

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

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.

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.

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

We have a huge anti-gay history behd , which is still very proment many different religns. There’s the belief that gay men are weaker than straight men.

“Gay is soft”. “Gay is weak”. “Gay isn’t manly”.

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

It’s a giant barrier standg the way for many of our gay athlet. In 2019, Andy Brennan beme the first Atralian profsnal male footballer to e out as gay while still playg.

“I’m gay, ” he wrote  an say published by Profsnal Footballers Atralia, the players’ unn.

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

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.