Danielle Warby

Advocate for women in sport

Alex Blackwell

Can we End Homophobia in Australian Sport?

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Last year, I lamented Cricket Australia’s refusal to implement an anti-homophobia policy and I’m VERY happy to report that they’ve since made a complete about-face.

Cricket Australia Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland acknowledged all sports still had much work to do to tackle homophobia and CA was committed to doing so.

This follows the release of the Out on the Fields study that showed 80% of those surveyed had experienced homophobic abuse on the playing field. I am one of them.

Elyse Villani (L) and Alex Blackwell at Sydney's Mardi Gras. Source: Cricket Australia
Elyse Villani (L) and Alex Blackwell at Sydney’s Mardi Gras. Source: Cricket Australia

Alex Blackwell, Vice Captain of the Southern Stars says:

It was disappointing to see that a fear of being bullied and being discriminated against by coaches and officials is keeping so many lesbian, gay and bisexual youth in the closet.

Everyone involved in sport must work toward ending homophobic behaviour. Through education and our actions we can tackle the behaviours uncovered through the study.

Cricket Australia signing that document made me feel that I am not alone… that Cricket Australia also wants to improve the culture of inclusion and respect so that gay athletes can be themselves and strive to the highest levels of their sport.

Source: CA supports moves to end homophobia | cricket.com.au

Homophobia in Australian Sport: The Statistics

infographic-aus

What Can We Do to End Homophobia in Sport?

Simple, if you hear something say something. Just like David Pocock. Dead set legend.

As players, we’ve said the Brumbies aren’t going to tolerate any homophobic slurs, I just made that clear to the referee that it’s unacceptable. You can be the toughest man in the world, but it’s got nothing to do with using that sort of language.

I certainly haven’t heard much in the last few years. I guess in the last year or two Australian rugby has started to address, and rightly so from Bill Pulver right down, that there’s no room for homophobic language in our sport and we want to make it inclusive.

Where you start is quelling out that sort of language. I didn’t hear it myself, I was just making the referee aware of it so he could act.

Our job as players is to quell it out. That’s what we did, I don’t think it should be a witch hunt. It’s about educating the players and ensuring that rugby does become more inclusive.

[Related: Homophobia in Sport and Why it’s Different for Women]

Cricket Australia Stumped by Homophobia. And Sexism

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Alex Blackwell
Alex Blackwell

In the Sydney Morning Herald, Andrew Webster laments Cricket Australia’s refusal to sign the a letter agreeing to incorporate anti-homophobia policy before the Bingham Cup – the world cup of gay rugby – to be held in Sydney in August.

[Update: Cricket Australia have since signed the policy]

And who else is missing from this conversation? 10 points to you if you guessed: women. Let’s address that, shall we? 

I had a chat to the Southern Stars’ Alex Blackwell in preparation for my talk on homophobia in sport and why it’s different for women earlier this year. She talks about Cricket Australia’s lack of a policy on this issue and how that effects her experience as a member of the national women’s cricket team.

Why did you decide to come out?

Shortly after throwing support behind Athlete Ally (something I was encouraged to get involved with by Hudson Taylor and David Pocock) it became obvious to me that I should be more vocal about my own sexuality.

How can I be trying to stamp out homophobia in sport and be attempting to make sport a safer place for gay athletes while I’m not totally upfront about being a gay athlete myself? I wasn’t hiding who I was to those around me, I just never took the opportunity to be really upfront about it in the media. I didn’t chose to focus on that part of my life in the media as it wasn’t the most important thing about me and my ability to play good cricket.

I chose to be public about my sexuality and experience of homophobia in sport by agreeing to speak with Amanda Shalala for a story on homophobia in sport. It was important to me to have control over when and how the topic of my own sexuality was raised in the media. So I chose a media outlet that I trusted and felt comfortable with and got behind a story that I felt needed to be shared.

What do you think would need to change for athletes to feel comfortable to come out publicly?

Sports choosing to use alternative images to promote their sport eg not always choosing the typically feminine players for media shoots and posters etc. This would show that the sport is ok with promoting all sorts of people not just one type of athlete

Reshape player code of behaviour education within sports to include discrimination based on sexuality . In cricket “racial and religious vilification” is included but no mention of sexuality.

What do you think is keeping athletes from coming out?

Female athletes
  • The stereotype that is commonly accepted that most female athletes are gay and by coming out you aren’t helping dispel that
  • Fear of losing opportunities to strengthen media profile
  • Wanting to keep the focus on their skill in the sport rather than personal factors
  • Gay athletes or those who are thought to be gay are not often asked about who they are dating etc
Male athletes
  • Fear of being treated differently by teammates and staff
  • Fear of being perceived as less tough and therefore not as good at their sport
  • Witnessing homophobic attitudes of respected peers

What was the reaction to your coming out?

Praise from teammates, fiends and family who saw the story on ABC. I actually thought that the story did not make it clear that I was a gay athlete, I could have easily just been a commentator on the issue.

Do you think it’s important for there to be out gay sportswomen? Why?

Yes. I think it’s extremely important to be honest about who you are and to be brave and be yourself in the public eye. By being silent about your sexuality you are only buying into the idea that there is something wrong with being a gay person. Being an openly gay sportswoman you are showing everyone, particularly young people, that it’s ok to be yourself.

There’s a public perception that there are a lot of lesbians in sport. What effect do you think this has on both straight and gay athletes?

Straight athletes can sometimes go to extra lengths to show they are not gay eg talk about heterosexual sex a lot, grow their hair long, show off boyfriends, choose to ignore homophobic behaviour or participate in it. This can create some segregation within a team.

Gay athletes choose to stay in the closet as they do not want to feed the perception.

Sports choose to focus on feminine attributes when promoting their teams and they choose to promote heterosexual couples to the media to compensate for that public perception.