From the Australian Open and its inaugural Pride day and the AFLW’s recent Pride round to this week’s announcement that Adelaide United will be hosting an A-League Men Pride game, the celebration and promotion of LGBTIQ+ inclusion has gathered momentum of late.
Add to that the increased visibility of LGBTIQ+ athletes, including the footballer Josh Cavallo and non-binary AFLW players Darcy Vescio and Tori Groves-Little, it signifies an important chapter in Australian sport, as journeys towards the inclusion of LGBTIQ+ people officially begin. For many years, sport has lagged behind wider society, dug its head in the sand around any LGBTIQ+ related issues and neglected the welfare of LGBTIQ+ athletes. So why all these pride rounds and events in sport suddenly?
Pride celebrations are a tool used by organisations to address problems associated with discrimination and equity surrounding LGBTIQ+ people, whilst celebrating LGBTIQ+ people involved in their sport, their achievements and the ongoing challenges they experience. They are a specific type of diversity work whereby efforts are made to fix and address a problem. This problem, put simply, is the exclusion and marginalisation of LGBTIQ+ people in sport.
The extent of this problem is still significant, and has presented sports administrators a significant challenge for decades. It does not appear to be going away anytime soon. My own research shows that we are still a long way off when it comes to addressing the inclusion of LGBTIQ+ people in sporting environments, where discrimination is still common and a culture and history of vilification and exclusion has long lasting impacts. To further highlight the nature of the problem, recent Monash University research found that half of Australian sporting clubs involved in a study believe that “homosexuality is wrong or unnatural”.
Pride games are celebratory in nature and a community development strategy which seeks to build trust, and welcome and invite LGBTIQ+ communities into sporting spaces. They are needed to help normalise inclusion as part of sporting structures, whilst creating conversations whereby people can learn, be educated, and connect with LGBTIQ+ people. Evidence around the impact of these events is encouraging too; research shows that community Pride cups and Pride themed celebrations have a positive influence on fostering supporting environments for LGBTIQ+ players.
The right to host or engage with Pride initiatives is not a given however, and there must be benefit to LGBTIQ+ communities, not simply to make a sport or club look progressive. You cannot cherry pick which part of Pride you engage with or celebrate; we are a diverse community but you cannot leave the trans and gender diverse community out of these celebrations.
Sports embarking on this journey must get their own shop in order first and foremost, before any big spectacles. These steps might include education and training, policy development (for example trans-inclusion policies), anti-homophobia and transphobia campaigns or participation programs. Organisations like Proud2Play are on hand to help, and in another encouraging step in Victoria, more sports have recently signed up to the rainbow roadmap – a sector-wide initiative between Proud2Play and Vic Sport, which helps sports become “rainbow ready” and engage with inclusion in meaningful ways.
But does this increase in Pride games, visibility of LGBTIQ+ athletes and celebrations show progress? Or does it hide and gloss over the lack of action in the space? On the one hand it shows a positive step in that sports are engaging with this particular type of diversity, albeit a lot later than other areas. On the other hand, it shows the often reactive and ad hoc nature of many sports which have not fully engaged or consulted with LGBTIQ+ communities.
To be clear though, hosting a one-off Pride round, walking 800m down the rainbow filled streets of Midsumma or Mardi Gras, or posting a tweet in support of gay athletes is not going to solve complex problems such as homophobia and transphobia in sport. Furthermore, sports can become so fixated with their pursuit towards inclusion – adding rainbow banners to social media posts and logos – that they simultaneously fail to address the very reasons why LGBTIQ+ people do not feel included in the first place: anti LGBTIQ+ discrimination. This came to light recently when Melbourne Victory were fined $5,000 after some of their fans directed anti-gay abuse at Josh Cavallo.
But when used properly, sport can positively impact an LGBTIQ+ person, which my latest research in tennis found; playing tennis in inclusive environments increased social and mental wellbeing amongst LGBTIQ+ participants and fostered social capital. This social capital proved to be crucial in times of social isolation and loneliness throughout the pandemic.
There is evidence to show that several sports in Australia are now on their path towards the inclusion of LGBTIQ+ people, but there is much work to do, and as recent controversies have shown, it may be a bumpy ride along the way. At the forefront of this work must be trans and gender diverse people, who are disproportionately affected by exclusion in sport. The sport sector is better off and a stronger institution with LGBTIQ+ people in it. By letting discrimination linger, we reduce opportunities to find the next Olympic champion, coach or volunteer, but more importantly, we lose the ability to positively impact the life of an LGBTIQ+ person.
