Jason Collins’ announcement on April 29 2013 that he is gay marked a moment in America’s sporting history. The 34 year old, an NBA veteran of 12 years, wrote about his life as a gay man for the cover story of Sports Illustrated. He has become the first athlete from an American professional sport to declare he is gay. This has been met with widespread congratulations from not only his peers and the media, but also members of the government.
“He seems like a terrific young man, and I told him I couldn’t be prouder,’ Barack Obama, president of the United States said.
His announcement has also made news here in Australia as the topic of tolerance for gay athletes in professional team sports comes to the fore. AFL boss Andrew Demetriou welcomed the news regarding Jason Collins and believes the AFL is ready to embrace its first openly gay player.
“I would hope any Australian sportsman or woman, and particularly an AFL player, would feel equally comfortable and we would strongly support them, as would the wider football public,” he said.
Along with Demetriou’s claims, the AFL players association is launching a new campaign to rid the game of homophobia. In video messages, AFL players such as Brownlow medallist Jobe Watson, Richmond’s Daniel Jackson, Collingwood midfielder Scott Pendlebury and Carlton’s Brock McLean will bring to light the harm of using words such as ‘faggot’ and ‘poofter’. McLean, whose sister Ellie struggled to admit she was gay, has a strong view regarding the issue of homophobia.
“You might think it’s just harmless, a bit of fun between mates but those words can really hurt. Suicide rates in the gay community are six times higher than the general community, so language like that is really not helping,” he said.
Yet the issue of homosexuality remains a taboo subject not only in the AFL but in all professional sporting codes in Australia. Currently, no present or past AFL players have come forward to state that they are gay. During his career in 1995 Ian Roberts, a rugby league player, confirmed his homosexuality and is to date the only professional footballer to do so in Australia. Yet a comment by a past player in recent years has only helped to deter players from admitting their sexuality.
In 2010, an article in the Herald Sun, written by former AFL player Jason Akermanis, discouraged current players from admitting they were gay.
“If a player wants to out himself, then I say good luck. But I believe the world of AFL footy is not ready for it. To come out is unnecessary for a lot of reasons. Imagine the publicity associated with a current player admitting he’s gay. It would be international news and could break the fabric of a club,” he said.
In the last 20 years the AFL has made considerable progress regarding issues of racism and women’s equality within Australian Rules Football. Now, with Jason Collins’ announcement and Andrew Demetriou’s comments supporting homosexuality within our game, the Australian football community may just be ready to embrace its first gay player.
* Steven Vasiliadis is currently studying Professional Writing and Editing at Swinburne TAFE.