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

Contents:

• ATRALIAN SOCCER STAR JOSH CAVALLO OUT AS GAY
• 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 GAY MAN'S GUI TO ATRALIAN FOOTBALL'S HOTTT HUNKS
• MATT HALL PAVED THE WAY AS THE FIRST OPENLY GAY ASIE L PLAYER
• 8 MALE FOOTBALL PLAYERS WHO DARED TO COME OUT AS GAY
• RUMOUR GAY AFL PLAYERS
• DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI
• JOSH CAVALLO BE ONE OF THE FEW PROFSNAL MEN'S FOOTBALLERS TO E OUT AS GAY
• ATRALIAN FOOTBALLER JOSH CAVALLO COM OUT, BE WORLD’S ONLY ACTIVE GAY MALE SOCCER PLAYER
• WHICH AFL PLAYERS ARE GAY?
• THE AFL’S GROWG PROBLEM WH VISIBILY OF GAY PLAYERS
• ATRALIAN SOCCER PLAYER JOSH CAVALLO OUT AS GAY
• OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS WOULD BE WELED THE AFL: SELWOOD
• IT'S HARD TO BE A GAY ATHLETE ATRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

ATRALIAN SOCCER STAR JOSH CAVALLO OUT AS GAY

"Asi om Cavallo, there are only several openly gay male athlet currently petg major sports leagu around the June, Las Vegas Rairs player Carl Nassib announced that he is gay, makg him the first openly gay active NFL 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.

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. 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. LoadgBeyond Blue has found experienc of homophobic discrimatn sport is associated wh clil anxiety and prsn, risk factors for suici.

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

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. 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. As the World Cup go on a untry where homosexualy is illegal, many global football fans are havg to reckon wh the sports' soccer remas one of the most popular sports around the world, very few players have been able to e out and enjoy a succsful reer afterwards.

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

Gay players face prsure om teammat, ownership, ach, and fans over their are some of the men who have e out, fightg those stereotyp, and pavg the way for LGBTQ+ athlet who e after them. Rogers me out as gay 2013, beg the first out gay man to pete a top North Amerin pro sports league when he played for the LA Galaxy that same year. Send your suggtns via @newsHQ | @the_mattyoung7 David Pock (Super 15)The Wallabi skipper has been outspoken agast homophobia and is a strong advote of gay marriage.

In the landmark article he talked about some of the landmark moments his life, cludg his heterosexual marriage before he me out as a gay man, his r accint where he had to rever om juri and for the first time felt mortal his life.

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

At that time would’ve been near impossible for him to be out as a gay man, nsirg he’d already been ostracised by some his social circle due to his HIV stat. Hall said the 2nd openly gay Asie Rul player Jason Ball has “erased my own” legacy by “him ntug to claim he was the first to e out spe beg a later 2012.

But tak guts to e out and reveal one’s genr as gay, which is ually an act of urage a world that is not ndned to accept every genr. So, many profsnal leagu, teams, and players are raisg their voic to fight back agast homophobia so that gay footballers don’t face backlash while g out. Therefore, a suable environment should be created through tn as a drivg factor, so gay footballers don’t feel prsured to reveal their sexualy.

In light of recent ntroversy regardg homophobic slurs by Israel Fol, we thought we would she a light on 10 fluential gay gby personali. In this article, we’ll name ten of the most notable gay gby personali, analyze their acplishments, discs how they are shapg the game today, and asss their impact on the overall perceptn of homosexual profsnal athlet around the world. That beg said, due to s physily, gby is regard as a “manly” sport, which mak more difficult for gay players to publicly acknowledge their preference.

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

At the same time, there are many misnceptns about this betiful sport, which has led to the margalizatn and targetg of gay players. This is one of the ma reasons why reprentativ of World Rugby met wh the lears of Internatnal Gay Rugby (IGR) to help eradite homophobia and tolerance om the game. Even though Ian Roberts may have been the first high-profile player to openly adm beg gay, Keegan Hirst was the first to ever do while still active.

Currently a Wakefield Try prop, Hirst has bee one of the most notable gay athlet, earng himself a startg role after signg a ntract wh the League si 2016.

Although he never played gby at a profsnal level, Mark Bgham has bee an inic figure for gay gby players and sportspeople around the world.

MATT HALL PAVED THE WAY AS THE FIRST OPENLY GAY ASIE L PLAYER

Known for his heroics durg the September 11 attacks, Bgham was a robt send-row man who played for the gay-clive San Francis Fog RFC.

8 MALE FOOTBALL PLAYERS WHO DARED TO COME OUT AS GAY

The Mark Kendall Bgham Memorial Tournament, simply known as the Bgham Cup, is a biennial gay gby unn tournament which was held for the first time 2002. Thomas publicly me out 2009 and has sce scribed his experience as a secretly gay player, revealg how the social prsure and stereotyp pose a signifint challenge for many athlet today.

The Welshman is also a TV personaly and a voted activist for the LGBT e, wng “Gay Sports Personaly of the De” at the Stonewall awards ceremony London back 2015. Male profsnal athlet e out as the first openly gay players currently participatg their rpective sports, cludg NHL hockey player Le Prokop and NFL fensive end Carl Nassib.

Atralian profsnal footballer Josh Cavallo publicly me out as gay on social media this week, makg him the only active, male, openly gay top-flight pro footballer the 21-year-old midfielr for Alai Uned opened up about the cisn to publicly announce his sexualy an open letter posted on Twter.

RUMOUR GAY AFL PLAYERS

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. Back 2014, the chief executiv of Atralia’s ma profsnal sports signed a mment to “tackle” homophobia football, gby, and cricket. In 2019, Atralian footballer and former A-Lege player Andy Brennan ma history as Atralia’s first male pro footballer to e out as, Cavallo is the only openly gay A-League male pro footballer currently playg, and one of the few profsnal men’s soccer players the world to ever publicly e out.

DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI

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 .

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 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.

If you want to ppot another reason that gay athlet are proment the media, ’s thanks to the gay stereotyp that are monplace society.

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

“It’s always been a place of acceptance, a place of support and a place for you to be whoever you are, whether you’re straight, gay or somewhere between. 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.

ATRALIAN FOOTBALLER JOSH CAVALLO COM OUT, BE WORLD’S ONLY ACTIVE GAY MALE SOCCER PLAYER

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.

WHICH AFL PLAYERS ARE GAY?

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

THE AFL’S GROWG PROBLEM WH VISIBILY OF GAY PLAYERS

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. “There’s somethg personal that I need to share wh everyone: I’m a footballer, and I am gay, ” Cavallo said a vio published Wednday by Alai Uned, his A-League 21-year-old Cavallo said he’s the first player to e out while still playg Atralia’s top-flight men’s soccer petn.

Brendon Thorne / APA talented player who reprented Atralia at junr level, Cavallo thought people would thk of him differently and treat him differently if he told them he was gay. “I am glad to see Football Atralia has publicly supported Cavallo, but now needs to fulfil the public mments ma 2014 to ‘eradite’ homophobia om the sport wh meangful actn.

”Cavallo nclud the vio, rerd the safe surroundgs of Alai home, by repeatg his msage: “I’m Josh Cavallo, I’m a footballer, and I’m proud to be gay. On the one hand was a steeped more than 125 years of patriarchal tradn, where no past or prent player had ever e out as homosexual. 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.

ATRALIAN SOCCER PLAYER JOSH CAVALLO OUT AS GAY

“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.

OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS WOULD BE WELED THE AFL: SELWOOD

”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. “I thk AFL at a muny level wh women has been great so far promotg a space where girls n feel fortable to be who they are, whether they are gay or straight, ” Ball said.

IT'S HARD TO BE A GAY ATHLETE ATRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

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. ”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.