AFL should be open to men and women of all sexualities, Mark Robinson writes

SOME players in the AFL Women’s competition are gay. Does anyone really care? MARK ROBINSON on whether the AFLW could change times enough for an AFL player to come out.

SOME players in the AFL Women’s competition are gay.

Does anyone really care?

One player told the Herald Sun this week she estimated only six players at her club weren’t gay. That’s six of roughly 30.

A question was asked this week, by academic Kate O’Halloran: Will the AFLW herald changing times for gay players in the men’s game?

It was a great question and a question which has been put front of mind because of the staggeringly successful AFLW competition, the fact that gay women dominate the environment and that apparently no one cares if they are gay or not.

Last weekend, two female players — Penny Cula-Reid (Collingwood) and Mia-Rae Clifford (Melbourne) — revealed in an article they were lovers, living together and were engaged.

It was a terrific piece, not least because they described the joy of playing football, but more importantly for an open and joyous discussion of their relationship.

But there was no overwhelming response from other media.

Melbourne’s Mia-Rae Clifford is in a relationship with Collingwood’s Penny Cula-Reid. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Why, then, if an AFL male player came out, the resultant media coverage would be expected to rival that of the first man standing on the moon?

Bulldogs captain Bob Murphy said this week the “media storm’’ would likely stop any AFL player from coming out.

“It’s obviously a complex issue but the media storm that waits I feel is just as big, if not a bigger factor in what might hold people back,’’ Murphy said on SEN.

“If in the situation that player at the Western Bulldogs came out, I know in my heart that if someone laid themselves bare like that and were vulnerable enough to talk about it, we would put our arms around them, and if we felt the need to protect them from the noise outside, we would.”

He added: “The first player to come out as gay, he may not want to become a spokesman for it and if he’s the first one, he probably will be or people will want him to be.”

Being the first male gay player would be news. But how many after that would it need before the news becomes ho-hum? Two? Five? 10? 50?

Sydney Swans and St Kilda played a ‘Pride’ game last year, with the Swans wearing socks with rainbow colours to celebratre diversity and inclusion of all people in sport. Picture: Getty

Exactly why is it that no one bats an eyelid that there’s an estimated 25 gay players at one AFLW team, but if a gay player came out in the AFL, there would be media bedlam?

It’s an odd world.

Most of us can’t comment about being gay and the pressures associated with it but — and without any expertise — the answer to O’Halloran’s question surely has to be: We hope so.

The popularity and acceptance of the women’s competition surely has opened the mind of the greater community.

And you have to ask if right now is the perfect time for an AFL player to publicly pitch his flag.

He might think it’s no one’s business — and he’s right — but if he previously felt there would be a lack of support, acceptance and understanding, then he might be surprised.

Of course, it wouldn’t be always smooth sailing. The macho misfits out there would find it all too hard to comprehend that “queers” and “poofs” were flourishing in the blokiest of blokey environments. But, hey, that’s their issue, not anyone else’s.

St Kilda showed their support for the LGBTI community by wearing rainbow colours in their guernsey numbers, instead of the usual white numbers. Picture: Jason Edwards

Back to the women, and amid the joy and inclusion of the women’s game, there is potentially a problem bubbling away.

The welcoming environment for gays is generally applauded, but not everyone is clapping.

Fathers have told one prominent AFLW player they won’t let their daughters play footy because of the gay influence.

It’s more than likely an old-school mentality, but it is a curious situation for some parents.

But for the AFLW player spoken to by the Herald Sun, it’s pretty simple.

“You know what, we’re all just girls mucking around, having fun playing football,” she said.

The point is, Australian Rules should be open to and welcoming of all sexualities. That goes for women and men.