HOMOPHOBIA, XENOPHOBIA, RACISM, SEXISM, MISOGYNY, ZIONISM, ANTI-SEMITISM - AUSTRALIANS ALL

Since Ian Thorpe emerged from his 20-year-old closet there have been several articles written, discussions on radio and television, and much interest shown from some sporting bodies about one of the areas most covered in shame over its ongoing stance on homophobia.

On a previous blog, some while ago, I posed the question as to how is it possible that in a sports code where there are somewhere between 1200 and 2000 players, administrators and others associated with the game, not one person has emerged as a gay, lesbian, transgender person involved in Australian Football League - or as it is popularly known - AFL?

This transcends statistical data and suggest that there are many people associated with AFL living in a closet because of the inherent homophobia, sexism and misogyny associated with that code.

Swimming and tennis have produced some notable exceptions, but that is what they are, exceptions.

Where are all the others, and why are they so intimidated and fearful of openly being who they are.

An example of how homophobia is affecting other members of our communities emerged in a report in a paper a few days ago from a man who appeared in a news item about HIV and AIDS, and who was verbally abused in a shop when some homophobes recognised him from the television programme which had carried the item about HIV and showed this young man. Here is the article:

Article in August 2014 edition of Star Observer

Mitchell Payne

Mitchell Payne

A FEW weeks after Mitchell appeared in a short documentary film about HIV stigma, two men started verbally abusing him while he was grocery shopping.

“I was in the fruit and veg section looking at apples,” he said, explaining the men were speaking loud enough to know Mitchell could hear them.

“They said, ‘isn’t that the guy from the AIDS documentary?’ I thought, okay, here we go…”

The men then said the apples would be spoiled because he had touched them. Finally, much louder again, one of them said: “Dirty AIDS cocksucker.”

“I could believe it was happening, to be honest. I basically just left. I didn’t say anything. Looking back I kind of wish I’d turned around and confronted these people, but in the moment, all I did was thought, I have to leave right now,” Mitchell said.

“Because not only had these people belittled me, they’d also said it loud enough for other people to hear… I didn’t really want to know if anyone was looking at me, because I felt the size of a peanut, just so tiny and insignificant in that moment.”

After so long being out and open as a gay man living with HIV, Mitchell had almost forgotten how deeply hurtful it could be to confront such direct stigma and abuse.

**This article first appeared in the brand new August 2014 issue of the Star Observer, which is now available in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra. 

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The next article of interest was in the Sunday Age of 20 JULY 2014 and was about homophobia and sport - as so many homophobia articles are:

Homophobia, and the courage to speak out

July 20, 2014 Sunday Age

Gus Johnston

·                             

Former Victorian hockey player Gus Johnston: 'Let's call a spade a spade.'

Photo: Craig Sillitoe  WEB SITE:    www.csillitoe.com

Most people don’t think they’re homophobic. But let’s call a spade a spade. Homophobia is just a fancy word for fear, hate, anger, vilification, discrimination and prejudice. It’s easy for us all to get distracted by the specifics of its definition, but like the sadly commonplace “I’m not racist, but ...”, the frequently pleaded disclaimer, “Oh, I’m not a homophobe” is the all-too common defence of someone who has, in fact, just done or said something completely homophobic. 

Broadcaster Brian Taylor probably doesn’t see himself as homophobic, but yet, last weekend he called Harry Taylor “a big poofter” by way of demeaning him. If I was a young person coming to terms with my sexuality, and fearing that others would not accept me, what specifically am I supposed to think about Brian’s remarks?

As a gay man, I’m ashamed to admit I, too, have been complicit in homophobic behaviour. In the past, when others have used language or done homophobic things around me, how did I respond? Well, quite simply, I didn’t. It was easier to just laugh it off and avoid the social awkwardness of that kind of confrontation. Or probably, in my case, the silence stemmed from a fear that others might assume I was gay - which in fact I was - if I were to call out homophobia. And it’s that kind of silence in sport that allows homophobia to exist.

It’s easy to shoot this behaviour down when it’s broadcast on television, but what about at training, in the locker room or in the crowd where there are no cameras, nor wider public scrutiny. That’s where the damage is done and the problem festers.

I used to play hockey. I was a goalkeeper for 20 seasons. I wasn’t the best, but I was pretty good. I represented Victoria and held a scholarship with the Victorian Institute of Sport for a number of years. I played more than 200 State League One games for the Essendon Hockey Club (winning two premierships and two Best and Fairests along the way). I loved, and still do love, hockey. And like any true love, I made irrational and unconditional sacrifices for my sport. I wanted to be the greatest I could, and I wanted my sport to love me as much I loved it.

But for the best part of 20 years I harboured the secret of my sexuality. I exiled myself from a lot of social activity. I made it part of me. I pretended I had better things to do after the game. But in truth I often just didn’t want to put myself in social situations where relationships or my love life may become a topic of conversation.

Not only did I love my sport, I also loved how it made me feel; important, triumphant, invincible, fearless, a part of something bigger. But the sad reality was that behind closed doors I was sad, lonely, depressed and often afraid. For me it was some strange kind of purgatory, I felt trapped and alone inside a team full of my closest friends. While I began to contemplate suicide on a regular basis, I also continually reminded myself that I couldn’t die, because, well, I’d be letting my teammates down. So I just kept my head down.

At the time, I could think of nothing worse than being ostracised by my sport or being excluded in any way. And with homophobic language so rife, what was I to think? Nothing told me otherwise. It seemed safer to assume I would not be accepted, than to risk it all. Many of my teammates would use derogatory and homophobic language, never imagining anyone within earshot was directly affected by it. But they were. I was. 

I’m not alone either, the recent survey "Out on the fields", which was commissioned by the organisers of the Bingham Cup - the World Cup of gay rugby - tells us just how prevalent hostility toward gay and lesbian participants is within sport. That bullying and exclusion are commonplace. 

In late 2010, at the same time as my retirement from playing, Hockey Victoria, the sport’s governing body, quietly began an initiative called Fair Go, Sport! It was a project done in collaboration with the Victoria Human Rights Commission with funding from the Australian Sports Commission. Even though it was a relatively small initiative designed to promote gender and sexual diversity in our sport, it ultimately had a profound impact on my life. This act of progress helped me realise I could do what I needed to. And so I came out. Posting a video on YouTube to share my experiences and lend my voice to the conversation and send a message.

I wanted to send a message of hope, that we can all overcome homophobia. And even 2½ years since I came out, I don’t think that message has changed. Whether a player, administrator, fan, coach, the greatest swimmer the world has ever known or just a hockey player from Melbourne, with decency, love, respect and the courage to speak up, we all have the power to bring homophobia to an end. Making sport, and the world, a better place.

Gus Johnston played hockey for Victoria.

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The following article in The Age of 14 JULY 2014 on Ian Thorpe emerging from his closet is probably a story that has a long way to go before it is played out. At the same time as this story appeared, there was an article by Kerryn Phelps in the Sydney Morning Herald, and judging by the numerous posts on the bottom of the article, there were very many angry people out there against what she had written. If you look up these articles on the web you will be able to decide what your own opinions are on the issue of sportspeople coming out and the timing thereof, but the conclusin must be that there is a great deal of homophobia in our communities!

Money aside, Thorpe's revelation will pay dividends

July 14, 2014

Andrew Webster

Chief Sports Writer, The Sydney Morning Herald

·                             

The truth: swimmer Ian Thorpe being interviewed by Michael Parkinson. Photo: Channel Ten

As a gay man, I couldn’t be happier for Ian Thorpe. As a journalist, I have misgivings of his outing as a homosexual with legendary interviewer Michael Parkinson, and its timing.

It does not rest well that Thorpe has decided to talk publicly about his sexuality as part of a reported $550,000 deal with Channel Ten that will see him call swimming at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow later this month.

That deal was hatched by his agent James Erskine, who also manages Parkinson. 

Thorpe has had the opportunity to set the record straight on many occasions.

Numerous biographies - authorised and not - have been penned about his life and career. He’s done documentaries, tell-all interviews, comical press conferences sponsored by Virgin declaring his comeback to the pool.

His message from the Parkinson interview has been cheapened by the fact it is part of a lucrative deal - and comes following reports in recent years of Thorpe’s financial troubles.

The chance to set the truth free, with dignity, has been there for Thorpe for years.

Indeed, the first chance Thorpe had to tell the truth came in 2003, when he sat down with my late, great editor at Inside Sport,Greg Hunter.

After finishing his long tenure at the monthly sport's magazine, Greg was thrust into the role of biographer, and then spent a year toiling over Thorpe’s story.

Greg was the ultimate professional and perfectionist. His editing of profile pieces often left this reporter on the verge of tears.

He was torn about the chapter concerning Thorpe’s sexuality. Specifically, he was concerned about a “Cheryl Kernot” situation.

In 2002, the former leader of the Democrats had published her biography, but it had failed to include one particular detail.

Soon after, Laurie Oakes revealed in his weekly column in The Bulletin that Kernot had failed to mention her extramarital affair while leader of the Democrats with former Labor frontbencher Gareth Evans.

But Greg’s concern went deeper than that.

We discussed Thorpe, at length, on numerous occasions, not least because I was coming to terms with my own sexuality. Greg had been a rock in this time, such was his altruistic manner.

Is Ian Thorpe gay? So many people had asked me, as a sports reporter, if I knew the answer.

I didn’t know. I was staring at the ceiling at night wondering why I was and how I was going to tell my father.

I just knew that if he was gay, and was denying it as much as I had, grappling with the truth, then I felt sorry for him.

In the end, Greg looked Thorpe in the eye, believed his version of events, and then passionately argued with anyone who dared to suggest the young swimmer was anything but heterosexual.

After the book was published, Thorpe told Alan Jones on 2GB he hadn't read it. It subsequently tanked.

The myth of Thorpe's heterosexuality was also perpetuated by many of his minders at that time. They fed the line that Thorpe was very much a ladies' man, in every sense, and laughed at suggestions otherwise.

Maybe those minders were protecting the pot of gold otherwise known as Thorpe Inc. 

Thorpe told Parkinson the fear of commercial reprisals stopped him, in part, from coming out sooner.

He is right.

Ian Roberts, the retired rugby league player who came out in 1995, often laughs at the mere notion of the “pink dollar”.

Whatever misgivings you or I might have about Thorpe's paid coming-out, it should not diminish the importance or significance of our greatest Olympian telling "the world" that he is gay.

Many have shrugged their shoulders in recent days and said, "So what? How is Thorpe’s sexuality anyone’s business? Who cares?"

Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham is right: Thorpe’s public declaration will save lives.

It will make it easier for those who are struggling to come to terms with who they are and where they fit in this world. Thorpe remains outrageously popular, despite his indifference towards being a public figure.

Of all the commentary written in the last few days, two lines stand out.

Said comic Tom Ballard in his column for Fairfax Media on Sunday: “For those who've heard this news and shrug and casually asks ‘who cares?’, I'd simply answer ‘15-year-old closeted me’. Scared, little, questioning Tom Ballard would have cared a lot if nine years ago he'd seen swimming champion and national treasure Ian Thorpe on the news, proudly identifying as a successful sportsman and a bloke who liked blokes.”

And this, from Rob Stott at news.com.au, about criticism that Thorpe has “lied” to us for years, including in his 2012 biography: “He was on his own deeply personal journey. A journey that even the most open-minded, tolerant person can’t understand until they’ve been through it themselves.”

That Thorpe is dealing with this now, at the age of 31, illuminates how far Australian society still has to go, and it extends beyond the Prime Minister's backward thinking about same-sex marriage.

Because it's not easy taking a stand - whether you are paid for it or not.

A month after I came out on the front page of The Sydney Morning Herald late last year in response to Knights player Ryan Stig's comparison between homosexuality and the work of the devil, I was having a beer at a Surry Hills pub.

A Sydney FC game was on that night, and many of its fans had filled the bar.

“Webster, you f..king faggot,” sneered one of them as I walked outside.

When I spun around and came back in and asked who'd said it, nobody had a word to say.

Who cares? I do.

 

HOMOEROTICISM, HOMOPHOBIA, AFL, CRICKET, ALL SPORTS

These are recent pictures from newspapers showing scenes from AFL and cricket matches in Australia and the UK.

What they continue to illustrate is that homoeroticism is very real in these spoprts as well as most other sports.

Body contacts show that many sports people do not shy away with body contacts with same-sex people and in fact seem to derive a great deal of pleasure from the contacts.

It continues to be strange that the attitudes projected by the people who control these sports continue to be as homophobic as they are in which the culture of homophobia seems to be predominant, yet many players are still in the closet and are afraid to publicly declare their homosexuality and ultimately be role models for young people still afraid of their sexuality because of society's responses to them.

There is enough homophobia inherent in many countries around the world for Australia to actually set an example about how NOT to be homophobic and develop a culture of support and encouragement for young people to be themselves.

But of course that requires commitment from the sporting bodies and it is just too much effort for them.

'I DIDN'T KNOW ANY FOOTBALLERS WHO WERE GAY'

This article in the Sunday Age on 9 September 2012 has been followed up by a petition on Change.org which will be here first, followed by the newspaper article:

(1)Petition:

JASON BALL'S CHANGE.ORG PETITION

(2)newspaper article:

'I didn't know any footballers who were gay'

September 9, 2012


By Jill Stark

Out and proud: Yarra Valley footballer Jason Ball, third from left, wants the AFL to air anti-homophobia videos at the grand final this month. Photo: Ken Irwin

SOMETIMES he'd say he had a girlfriend. In the world of Aussie rules football, Jason Ball thought he had to play up his ''blokeyness''. When teammates sledged opposition players, calling them ''homo'' or ''fag'', he'd pretend not to care.

Inside the footy club where he'd played since he was five, nobody knew he was gay.
''It was the one place I never thought I'd be able to come out. Ever. It just felt like a really hostile environment. I worried I'd be bullied, maybe I'd get kicked out of the side, maybe the opposition would treat me differently or I'd get abuse [from supporters] over the fence,'' he told The Sunday Age. ''I didn't know any footballers who were gay, so I could only assume the worst, and it scared me.''

The 24-year-old, who plays for Yarra Glen seniors in the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League, is a rare voice in a football world that gay groups say is struggling to come to terms with homosexuality in its ranks.

Illustration: Matt Golding.

While such groups agree sexuality is a private matter, they say it is significant that no AFL players have revealed their homosexuality.

For Ball, publicly coming out was unnecessary. His teammates figured it out and were supportive. The homophobic language stopped. ''It was like they could see those words have an effect on people because it was hurting me, one of their mates.''

Ball believes there are hundreds, maybe thousands of others like him playing in minor leagues, and professionally, who feel too isolated to reveal their sexuality. There are rumours that a TV network has offered a gay AFL player a six-figure sum to be the first footballer to come out.

Today, backed by online-petition movement Change.org, Ball will launch a campaign urging the league to air anti-homophobia videos at the MCG during this month's grand final. He also wants the AFL to stage a ''Pride'' round next season to celebrate sexual diversity.

Beyondblue chairman Jeff Kennett, who last week launched a campaign highlighting the mental health impact of homophobia, backed Ball's petition. He told The Sunday Age he spoke privately with AFL boss Andrew Demetriou last week, urging him to do more to tackle the problem in the game.

''Beyondblue has a relationship with the AFL anyway, and Andrew and I have been discussing some ideas that have not been done before for next year, which will be about sexuality discrimination,'' Mr Kennett said. ''This young man really deserves to be congratulated because there will be many of his fellow footballers who are in exactly the same position but have been worried about public pressure and therefore kept their sexuality to themselves.''

It comes after the AFL last month wrote a letter of support for ''No to Homophobia'' - a campaign run by gay rights and social justice groups - but were criticised for not doing more.

The fact St Kilda's Stephen Milne escaped with a $3000 fine and an education course rather than a suspension, after calling Collingwood defender Harry O'Brien a ''f---ing homo'', implied that sexual vilification was treated less seriously than other forms of discrimination, Ball said.

''At high school I got picked on for being gay and those words were used to make me feel small and worthless. If you look at rates of suicide, self-harm and depression for gay kids, this is a serious issue. I was fine coming out to my school friends and my family but I was terrified coming out to my football team. That makes it the AFL's problem because this culture is in their sport.''

Some have questioned whether the AFL should be responsible for taking a lead role on every major social issue.

But Ball argues that as long as our cultural life is viewed through the prism of football, the AFL has a greater role to play than most in ''changing hearts and minds''.

''It's no wonder that no gay player at a professional level would come out when the AFL is not working as it could to create a more positive and inclusive environment for that to happen. I think the players are ready. The clubs are ready. But we just need the AFL to lead on changing the culture so that players and fans like me can openly be who we are without fear.''

Dr Caroline Symons, a senior lecturer in social policy in sport at Victoria University, says a 2010 report she co-authored surveying the gay and lesbian community found football was the hardest sport for people to be open about their sexuality.

''If you weren't playing well the terms used to motivate men were, 'You're playing like a pack of poofs or faggots.' So the terminology associates being gay with being weak and that can be very alienating,'' she said.

A spokesman for the AFL said it supported diversity and respectful relationships and did not tolerate discrimination.

■The Australian Christian Lobby has rejected Jeff Kennett's offer to replace the Prime Minister at its national conference. On Thursday, Julia Gillard withdrew from the October conference, citing ''offensive'' comments by the lobby's leader, Jim Wallace, on homosexuality.

HOMOEROTIC? HOMOSEXUAL? HOMOPHOBIC?

Somehow my maths may be at fault, because according to my calculations, with 18 AFL teams now registered, it seems to me that there are probably about 700 to 800 players around Australia plus probably at least another 200 administrators, coaches and ancilliary staff.

So, according to this figure, there is not one homosexual involved with AFL in Australia?

This is impossible, because statistically, there must be at least one gay man in the whole organisation. And what about players? Out of approximately 800, not one is gay?

The following photo appeared in The Sunday Age on 12 August 2012:

In the 15 August 2012 edition of MCV, Melbourne Community Voice, Issue #606, an article by Michael Magnusson was published.

The article was headed "

Milne fined for homophobia"

. Here is the article as it appeared online with a different heading from the print edition:

Aug10
AFL star fined for gay slur

By Michael Magnusson

St. Kilda forward Stephen Milne has been fined $3000 by his club following
an AFL investigation which concluded he made homophobic comments on-field
earlier this month.

The Age newspaper reported that during the match on August 4 Milne was
heard by umpire Dean Margetts to call Collingwood player Harry O’Brien a
“f------ homo c---”.

Milne’s on field comment was not audible on television coverage but
microphones picked up Margetts saying: “OK, OK, enough of the language.”

Margetts awarded a 50m penalty to Collingwood, saying, “That language is
unacceptable”.

Margetts filed a complaint following the match and AFL integrity officer
Brett Clothier investigated the incident and found the Milne had breached
the players’ code of conduct and the AFL discrimination and vilification
policy.

St Kilda Football Club issued a statement saying Milne would be fined and
be “required to undertake an AFL education program to address the
inappropriate nature of his comments”.

The statement also said Milne apologised for his comments and any offence
caused.

AFL Operations Manager, Adrian Anderson, supported St. Kilda’s response to
the incident.

“It is simply not acceptable, even in the heat of battle, for AFL players
to use homophobic insults on the football field,” Anderson said.

“The St Kilda Football Club is to be commended for taking this action and
sending a strong message that homophobic comments are unacceptable.”

It is not the first time Milne has used homophobic language during a match.
In 2010 he was also fined $3000 for an anti-gay comment made to a
Collingwood assistant coach.

Now here is something else for you to look at and try:

Into a search engine put the words "Milne fined for homophobia" and dozens of entries are given, not one being a link to the gay paper from which the article above is copied.

If that doesn't tell you something about search engines and homophobic reporting, nothing else will!!

HOMOPHOBIA CONTINUES UNABATED IN AFL AND OTHER CODES IN AUSTRALIA

This article appeared in the Fairfax media over the weekend of 19 February 2012.

Rob Mitchell tells how there is no change in homophobia in footy games in Australia after years and years of trying to get changes!

AFL needs to man up on homophobia issue
Rob Mitchell
February 19, 2012

Andrew Demetriou: says the AFL is educating players on gay issues. Photo: Paul Rovere

THE head of the AFL, Andrew Demetriou, ought to take his colleague Jeff Kennett out to lunch.

Along with his credit card, Mr Demetriou might want to take a notepad. If events this week are any guide, he could learn a lot from Mr Kennett.

Earlier this week, Mr Kennett was on radio talking about depression. As chairman of the national anti-depression outfit beyondblue, and after a long stint as president of the Hawthorn Football Club, he is adept at using his high media profile to destigmatise depression and suicide.

The interview took an unexpected turn. While talking about depression in professional footballers, Mr Kennett went on to say that approximately 5 per cent of professional AFL footballers are gay, and the fact that none of them were publicly ''out'' was a major cause for concern because having to hide their sexual orientation - particularly in the goldfish bowl of AFL football - was highly detrimental to their mental health.

Mr Kennett's track record with gay issues has been troubled - he ended up at loggerheads with his previous chief executive, Dawn O'Neil, over comments about gay parenting - but his 5 per cent figure is a reasonable assumption. Research undertaken by beyondblue shows that in men aged 25 and under, some 10 per cent will identify as same-sex attracted. Given that half of the 800-odd professional AFL footballers are aged under 25, that would suggest about 40 players are gay in that age group alone. The research also tells us AFL is regarded as the most homophobic of all the football codes.

Naturally, Mr Kennett's comments were later put to Andrew Demetriou, who, as luck would have it, was already well and truly in diversity mode at a function spruiking the AFL's credentials in respect towards women.

Mr Demetriou assured the media that the AFL was ''ahead of the game'' when it came to ensuring the code was inclusive of gay men, not only because discrimination based on sexual orientation was now included in the AFL anti-vilification code, but also due to the fact that all footballers have seen a video of gay Olympic swimmer Daniel Kowalski talking about his own experience in coming out.

Who's he trying to kid? The cold hard reality is that the AFL has as little to do with the gay community as it possibly can. The rule change that Mr Demetriou referred to only occurred after some 18 months of intensive lobbying by the gay community, and when finally sexual orientation was included in the anti-vilification section of the AFL rules, it was 10 years after the same provision was placed in Victoria's Equal Opportunity Act.

And while it's useful for footballers to watch a video on what it is like to be an elite gay swimmer, surely that pulls up well short of the kind of education we can reasonably expect the AFL to give its players.

The AFL has also conveniently forgotten to mention that it is paid more than $400,000 a year from the Australian Sports Commission to make the code more inclusive.

Truth is, there are no ''out'' gay AFL footballers because they refuse to self-identify in an environment that they perceive to be toxic. The responsibility for this rests squarely on the shoulders of the administrators. Not the players. Not the fans. Not the umpires. Not the coaches.

The drivel that is put forward from the AFL about coming out being ''a personal choice'' is precisely that. For the AFL to say that all their gay players are ''choosing'' to remain in the closet is ridiculous.

It beggars belief that a gay AFL footballer would not want his partner to be involved in events like the Brownlows. Not because they are looking to be activists, but because they want to be able to be honest with everyone around them. Why does the AFL not get that?

Further, the AFL as administrators refuse to make any effort to help their gay players, not because they lack the resources - the AFL earns hundreds of millions of dollars a year and pays no income tax - but simply because they don't want to. And they don't want to because, despite the lip service, diversity and inclusion is not regarded as core business.

If the AFL wanted to, it could transform the issue of homophobia in football in a heartbeat. When the AFL Players Association ran a ground-breaking project for the International Day Against Homophobia two years ago, the AFL took notice and was getting ready to run a diversity round to highlight the value of inclusion in sport. Then along came Jason Akermanis with his infamous ''Stay in the closet'' newspaper column, and the wheels fell off. As a result, the AFL decided, again, to put gay in the too-hard basket.

While the AFL refuses to address the issue of homophobia in the code, it's never going to get any better. It's not an unreasonable expectation for the AFL to do equality equally. Now would be a good time to start.

Rob Mitchell is a member of the Victorian Department of Sport governance and inclusion project.

PETER ROEBUCK TRAGEDY - SOCIETY - AND SPORT SHOULD BE CONDEMNED, NOT ROEBUCK!

In the aftermath of Peter Roebuck's death and the stories which have been written trying to explain the inexplicable, several issue stand out.

To me, the main issue is homophobia, and this is followed by homophobia in sport, and this again is followed by homophobia in the world of cricket.

If anybody has read about people coming out as gay, lesbian or transgender in the cricketing world, then it seems not to have been in the public arena.

Many areas of sport have produced episodes which have made those sporting bodies challenge their built-in homophobia - not that it has necessarily made all that much difference, but it has brought matters out into the open.

Sports such as tennis, rugby of all codes, swimming, and possibly other sports which need more public airing, have been given a certain amount of publicity which shows just how far we still have to go to obtain equality in the world of homophobia in which we live.

An article in The Age newspaper a few days ago about Roebuck and his life, including stories of his "abuse" of young men who are sponsored by him for educational and sporting opportunities. Roebuck is accused of smacking them on their bare buttockses and other forms of abuse. Nowhere does it state that the young men are 16 years of age or younger - in fact mostly they seem to have been in their early to late 20s, big enough and strong enough to have withstood the abuse and being able to fight back. No stories of this nature have appeared in the public arena.

The letters in the Sunday Age of 8 January 2012 are particularly foul in the accusations made about this unfortunate man who was brought up and lived in a time of acute homophobia and who got involved in a sport which ought to hang its head in shame at its total silence on the issue of homophobia in sport in general and cricket in particular.

In recent years there has been some sort of liberalising in our social relationships in regard to gay, lesbian, transgender and HIV/AIDS issues and the people who happen to be part of these groups who have had more opportunities for self-expression than those of us born 50, 60, 70, 80 years ago.

But we still have such a long way to go.

And yet another few conspiracy theories which may well need more investigating:

1) What were the South African police doing, leaving only one with Roebuck in his hotel room, while the other went out, ostensibly with Jim Maxwell who was answering Roebuck's distress call?

2) Because so many of the young men Roebuck was dealing with in his hostel and elsewhere were Zimbabweans and Mugabe's influence with South Africa's politicians is easily investigated, did Mugabe have something to do with the police investigating the complaint made by a young Zimbabwean against Roebuck?

These are but a few of the unanswered questions, but there are many more.

Peter Roebuck may have been a gay man, but remained in the closet due to the circumstances of the sport and people he was involved with in his professional life.

Shame on so many of them for the role they have played in being silent on the issue of homophobia in thier sport of cricket~

HOMOPHOBIC AFL BIGOTS EXPOSED!!!

The AFL was supposed to have developed some new codes of conduct designed to reduce homophobia and also designed to be less misogynistic.

The latest outbreak of both has occurred because it would appear that a young female was abused by certain players and this person got revenge by posting some nude photos of some of the homophobes and misogynists behaving - as is their wont - at their worst.

Their behaviour has been unacceptable for many years, and when they are hoist with their own petards they suddenly cry foul.

It is their behaviour and antics which are foul and it is time this was all put to rest. For far too long, those administrators who are responsible for rules and regulations have paid lip service to all the problems besetting the different sporting codes, and hopefully they will have been given a further jolt which they deserve.

IS AKERMANIS TRYING TO TELL US SOMETHING?

Some of the worst gay bashers over time have been those who are closet gays and who are so afraid of their sexuality that they do their best to denigrate others who have had the courage in a world of homo-hatred to openly declare their sexuality.

What is Akermanis' game??

You decide!

Article in The Age 280810

Gay focus 'puts lives at risk'

By Samantha Lane

August 28, 2010

THE appetite for ''outing'' gay AFL players is putting lives of young Australians wrestling with their sexuality at risk, says an expert in the field who has advised the AFL Players' Association on the topic.

Rob Mitchell, instrumental in the AFLPA's anti-homophobia campaign earlier this year and a member of the state government's Sport Governance and Inclusion project, has called on the AFL to take a stronger lead but believes the league still ''buries its head in the sand'' on the issue.

Mitchell's comments follow reports in The Age this week that Jason Akermanis speculated about individual AFL players who might be gay at a corporate function in Mildura earlier this month.

Akermanis has since defended himself by saying he was merely responding to rumours about certain players that were raised during a question-answer segment. But Mitchell, who has met and spoken with senior AFL figures about how the league approaches homosexuality and homophobia, says that is no excuse. He is particularly incensed given he was involved in providing Akermanis with statistics about youth suicide and depression before the sacked Western Bulldog wrote his now-infamous ''Stay in the Closet'' newspaper column earlier this year. ''It's grossly irresponsible. Because the research tells us, and Jason Akermanis knows this research, that the people who are at highest risk of committing suicide are the people who are thinking of doing so to avoid disclosure of their sexual orientation - whether it's gay, bisexual or whatever. So for Jason Akermanis to be engaging in this sort of behaviour, I think he would seem to be intent on keeping funeral directors busy,'' Mitchell said.

While praising the ground-breaking work of the AFLPA, which signed up roughly 30 AFL players and coaches to front an ''inclusion and diversity'' campaign to mark the International Day Against Homophobia in May, Mitchell believes the AFL's approach to homosexuality generally leaves much to be desired.

A Victorian University research report published this year, ''Come Out to Play'', found Australian rules to be the most hostile and unwelcoming football code for homosexuals.

45 per cent of the 308 surveyed gay men said they would like to play AFL but did not, or felt they could not, because of the environment they perceived to be threatening. By comparison, 10 per cent of those surveyed regarded soccer as Australia's most hostile sporting environment for gay men.

"It escapes me, it eludes me completely, why the AFL is not going at this with hammer and tongs,'' Mitchell said. ''I go back to the Mal Brown and Dipper [race-related] comments. When they came out, the AFL was like a very finely tuned machine swung into action. There was no delay and they were completely on message. They said 'this is unacceptable'. We're not getting that with Jason Akermanis. In many ways it's like watching a train wreck in slow motion.

''At this point there are two things they've [the AFL] got to do. Firstly, they've got make it abundantly clear that they think what Jason Akermanis is doing is incredibly harmful … the second thing they've got to do is genuinely start doing some outward-facing work on kicking homophobia out of football. The problem is not with the players. The problem is with the administration. It's not up to speed.''

An AFL spokesman told The Age this week: "The AFL has made it very clear that everyone is treated equally and no-one should ever be discriminated against on the basis of their sexual preference or identity, and that stance has been enshrined in our rules outlawing vilification. That is a view that is shared by the wider football community."

AFL Players' Association president Brett Burton said it ''flabbergasts me'' that Akermanis would speculate publicly about who, in the AFL playing ranks, may or may not be gay.

''We've worked so hard as a playing group to send a message to the general community that we support differences in the community, whether it be differences in culture or whether it be sexual choice,'' he said.

''We're not trying to 'out' people. It's all about trying to make the environment and the community a place where people can feel comfortable if they choose to come out.

''It's about people feeling more comfortable because we know about the suicide rates in homosexual people and we know the struggles they face with having their sexual choice acknowledged, be it by family or by friends.''