What was your reaction when AFLW Giants player Haneen Zreika decided last week she could not wear the club’s so-called Pride jumper for religious reasons? I was gobsmacked at the revelation, and many minutes elapsed before I could even begin to comprehend by implication its significance.
You see, at no time had I considered the possibility that heterosexuals compete at the top level of women’s football. This misconception is due entirely to my ignorance, and I apologise unconditionally to all straight women for denying their existence, albeit unwittingly. I will resolve to be an ally, do better, and educate myself.
As for Zreika, she will not be sanctioned for her stance. Quite the opposite, actually. Not only did the AFLW acknowledge the “challenges between our stance as a code and people’s own beliefs,” it applauded “the way the club and playing group have worked together to understand and support each other.”
Giants coach Alan McConnell also stressed everything was tickety-boo. “As I said to Haneen, we can have similar opinions, different opinions, but they’ll never break the bond that we have for one another and that she has with her teammates,” he said.
It was a cordial outcome, not to mention a pleasant reminder of how adults used to sort out their differences. That it was resolved amicably is all the evidence you need to conclude that Zreika is not of the Christian faith. “As the first Australian Muslim woman in the AFLW, I have a responsibility to represent my faith and my community,” she explained in a social media post. “I respect people regardless of their sexual orientation.”
But as the alphabet activists incessantly remind us, respecting people regardless of their sexual orientation is not enough. Such is its hold on public and private institutions that LGBTIQA+ ideology demands express affirmation of its tenets. In the name of tolerance, its militants browbeat and shame those who question its dogma, no matter how ludicrous the claims. It does not permit even passive dissent. So how did Zreika avoid their censure?
Put simply, the AFLW sought advice from stakeholders who represent the heart and soul of Australian Rules football, people without whom the game would be nothing. You know, HR officers, equity and diversity specialists, human rights practitioners, conflict and resolution mediators, comms graduates, inclusion experts, and sensitivity advisers. Anyway, the consensus appears to be that Islam is not the problem, it being a religion of peace, and that in any event Muslims are allies in the struggle against patriarchy, heteronormativity, and whiteness. All good?
The AFLW wants us to forget this awkward anomaly, instead concentrating on what it perceives to be the real threats to rainbow tolerance. Look no further than West Coast AFLW coach Michael Prior, who last month defended his organisation for being the only club that did not feature a custom guernsey during Pride Round.
“I’ve got a simple view. That’s not my role. I talk about footy, not what we’re wearing,” he told the West Australian. “I think we’ve done the pride stuff to death to be honest. I want to talk about the footy, not the jumper.”
For a coach to suggest that football takes priority over symbolic and flamboyant posturing is a terrible thing. Predictably, social media outrage followed, and next day Prior profusely apologised for his wrongthink, adding “We have recognised and participated in Pride Round this week by wearing a unique training singlet, rainbow socks, media pieces and we will also have on-ground recognition on match day.” Who knows, maybe they even found time to kick the football.
Prior had merely expressed frustration that the Pride Round was receiving disproportionate attention. He did not say that his team’s displaying its insignia was incompatible with his personal beliefs or that of his community. Conversely, Zreika refused to wear the guernsey in question for these very reasons. Prior has been forced to apologise. Zreika, on the other hand, has overall received positive media coverage.
According to The Guardian’s Rana Hussain, inclusion was the winner on the day. “By all accounts that is what GWS has achieved, and this moment has provided the perfect litmus test,” she wrote. “Had the team not cultivated an environment of inclusivity, understanding and respect, Zreika would not have been able to have this very complex conversation with her teammates.” Does Hussain really believe the outcome would be the same had Zreika’s stance been based on conservative Christian beliefs?
At least The Guardian, to its credit, covered the story last Friday, along with Nine, News Corp, and SBS when it became public. But as Gerard Henderson noted in this newspaper, the ABC did not. It was not until the next day the national broadcaster published an online piece with the superbly ironic headline ‘Haneen Zreika breaks her silence on sitting out AFLW Pride round’.
As expected, the ABC’s coverage of Zreika was sympathetic. It did not put her non-participation down to homophobia or any other form of bigotry. Contrast that with its reaction last year when South African cricketer Quinton de Kock initially declined to kneel in support of the Black Lives Movement. “How racist do you have to be, to not just take a knee and do that in conjunction with your teammates to show support, to even pretend to show support,” asked ABC sports journalist Tony Armstrong. Presumably he has evaluated Zreika’s behaviour by applying similar reasoning – right?
For the record, I do not believe Zreika has done anything wrong. The AFLW has only itself to blame for the embarrassing publicity. Like many other high profile sporting bodies, its senior executives have behaved both foolishly and egotistically in embracing activism, thus politicising their institutions. As 3AW host Tom Elliott reflected last week: “This is what happens when you try and appease everybody, when you try and say we want to be all things to all people, we want to tolerate everybody under this broad, wonderful, banner that we’ve created, invariably you have problems, because not everybody agrees.”
Kudos though to the head of the AFL’s inclusion and social policy, Tanya Hosch, who this week told the ABC’s The W podcast something we commentators have been saying for years. “People of faith have rights as well,” she said, defending Zreika.
They certainly do. But where were those same defenders in 2019 when Rugby Australia terminated star player Israel Folau’s employment when he, a conservative Christian, proclaimed on social media that homosexuals and other ‘sinners’ were destined for hell unless they repented?
Still, better late than never, AFLW. Whether you like it or not, your handling of the Zreika affair and Hosch’s comments have created a precedent that will bind you when similar incidents occur in future, irrespective of the player’s religion. You could say it has transformed you from a woke little congregation into a very broad church.
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