AFL stars come out to fight homophobia
| 13 April 2010
Brad Sewell, Neil Balme, Joel Selwood and Brownlow medallists Jimmy Bartel and Adam Goodes are among nearly dozens of AFL players and coaches that have signed up to a campaign that promotes tolerance of homosexuality.
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Almost 30 players and coaches have signed up to the Players' Association project, the "inclusion and diversity" campaign to be launched officially next month. The campaign is timed to the May 17 International Day Against Homophobia.
The campaign is perceived as a hugely positive step in a sport seen by gay men in a recent survey as being hostile and threatening.
New research by Victoria University shows that gay men believe Australian rules is the most hostile football code, with many saying they feel too threatened to play the game. The Victoria University survey of 308 adults found the most common sports that men would like to play but did not, or felt they could not, were Australian Rules Football (45 per cent), rugby (17.5 per cent) and soccer (10 per cent).
For the campaign, the AFL sportsmen and coaches have been photographed holding handwritten signs calling for acceptance and understanding of homosexuals.
It follows a similar campaign last year in which the gay-oriented rugby union club, the Sydney Convicts teamed up with Australia’s national rugby union team, the Wallabies to promote diversity and combat homophobia. An attempt at a similar campaign by English soccer authorities failed earlier this year because players would not take part.
See more photos of the AFL players here.
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