A former Australian Football League (AFL) player has publicly come out as gay while cautioning that fan behaviour may still deter others from doing the same.
Leigh Ryswyk, who played one match for the Brisbane Lions in 2005 before being delisted due to injury, revealed his sexuality during an interview on Melbourne radio station Joy 94.9.
The 41-year-old said his close friends have know about his sexuality for five years but he had kept his private life largely out of the public eye.
“To people who know me, my closest friends, this is not new,” he said. “I’ve been out for five years now. There will be people though ... it will be the first time they know about this.
“I’m a very private person, so it’s not all over my social media and things like that, and that’s fine. It can be a bit of a shock to some people, they might not know, but that’s life, right? In the end, the people who are nearest and closest to me know, and that’s what’s most important.”
Ryswyk is the first male player from the AFL to come out as gay. His announcement follows that of former West Coast Eagles player Mitch Brown, who became the first openly bisexual AFL player last year, in a sport that had gone 129 years without any publicly out gay or bisexual male players.
Speaking after his announcement, Ryswyk described the response as unexpectedly strong. “[It] has been amazing to be honest, overwhelming support, love, messages from people from everywhere. I can't lie, it's blown me away,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
He added that while clubs and the wider AFL community would likely support any player who came out, external pressures could still weigh heavily.
“The club itself will just wrap their arms around the player, the AFL community as a whole will do that – the outside world, fans and media at times … then maybe that fear [from] them,” he told ABC.
“People are very passionate about their footy teams and want to see them succeed, but the environment needs to change and education continue to happen, and that's why we need to start at a younger level because again it's learnt through that level. Once everyone's on board, we want to feel safe anywhere we go.”
Ryswyk said he had not felt ready to come out during his playing career. “Different things happen within your life and you just move forward,” he said. “When I was ready, I was ready and that's now.”
“When you come out to your family it's always a massive experience, there's a lot of things going on in your head,” he said.
“I had the opportunity to sit down with mum and talk to her about it, and let her know, which was massive. She obviously was crying, I was crying, and she goes 'I still love you', so for me, that was a wow moment.”
His father responded similarly. “I really didn't know what to expect, but he was like, 'I love you, it doesn't matter, as long as you're happy I'm happy for you', that blew me away to be honest.”
Originally from Victoria, Ryswyk moved to Queensland to join the Lions and made his sole AFL appearance against Fremantle, during which he suffered a quad injury.
He later built a long career with North Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), playing 226 games between 2006 and 2018 and contributing to a 2018 reserves premiership despite broken ribs late in the season. He was later inducted into the AFL Queensland Hall of Fame.
He said he had never felt unsafe within football environments.
“Football clubs literally are your family and you feel like you can be you. I've never, ever felt at any football club I've ever been to that I couldn't be me,” he said.
Asked why he chose to speak publicly now, Ryswyk replied: “Why not?”
He also expressed hope that sharing his story would encourage others. He said he wanted sportsmen to feel comfortable to “be themselves” and envisaged a time when sexuality would no longer need to be publicly declared.
Brisbane Lions chief executive Sam Graham said: “It is great to see Leigh share his story and journey publicly. We want our game to be an inclusive environment for everyone, including players, staff, members and fans. As a club, we hope this has a positive impact across football and society more broadly.”
North Adelaide also issued a statement backing their former player, describing him as “the first openly gay past or present AFL/SANFL player” and highlighting his long service and life membership at the club. “As a football club, we pride ourselves on fostering an inclusive environment where players, staff, members and supporters from all communities feel safe, respected, and free to be themselves,” it said.
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon welcomed the announcement, saying: “For Leigh to be able to be comfortable sharing his story last night was great.”
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