Scape Goat Iva and Ben's BDSM dungeon of Gold Coast SUNS negativity

[Iva Bigun]

I’m gonna have to disagree. I think people do care. And have for decades.

This is evident in the way that it hasn't been normalised and accepted at all in sport.

As much as I wish people were as inclusive or tolerant of others as many of us on here seem to be, the stats aren’t good to look at.

There are currently no openly gay men’s AFL players. And never have been while they played. Do you know how statistically unlikely that is?

NRL is fractionally better with one male player who was openly gay while playing the sport in the past. One.

There are none in the EPL. Just one in the NFL. A handful have played in the NBA.

Again, these stats are basically impossible and would not be seen in almost any other profession.

All this suggests that players are not comfortable coming out while playing sport (and possibly after) for fear of public or internal backlash.

So, it’s safe to say that homophobia is rife in almost every male sporting code.

Recent evidence in Australia? A bunch of Manly players refused to wear a kit with a rainbow on it two years ago because of what it represented. Similar things happened in the NBL with Cairns Taipans last year.

Now people are entitled to their own beliefs. Anti-discrimination acts are hard to jostle when different groups have different ideological perspectives and values. It’s hard to say that one is more valued.

That’s where people start to feel divided. Or excluded. I get that.

The AFL is doing what they can. Is it the best the can do or the best way to do it? I dunno. But tackling racism, sexism (and domestic violence) and homophobia are at the top of the agenda right now.

For context, I work with a lot of kids on a daily basis who are not accepted and feel like nobody cares. So I feel that I understand how damaging this off-hand and constant casual discrimination (on gender, race, sexuality etc.) is.

It trickles down.

So we, as a society, should stop saying “we don’t care”. This is dismissive.

Instead we need to start saying that we care enough to be better, and care enough to expect others to be better.

I’m sure Powell will come back better.




(Hopefully this is my one and only comment in the BDSM dungeon)

I think your point about homophobia in male sport is insightful and accurate, however I still feel in general society dependent on the industries in which you work and friends with which you associate it’s a non factor.