More than half of participants in a survey at men’s sporting clubs have reported teammates using homophobic language while nearly a third of respondents said they had used slurs themselves. It also found higher rates in VFL and amateur Australian rules teams compared to other sports surveyed.
The study from Monash University, supported by VicHealth, surveyed responses of male participants from six randomly selected sport clubs that had hosted pride cup matches, and six clubs that hadn’t.
A rainbow painted on the SCG before the Sydney-St Kilda Pride match this year.Credit:Getty Images
The research highlights the need for more pride rounds, including in the men’s AFL , to follow the lead of women competitions with league-wide pride rounds such as the AFLW, which has its third dedicated pride round this weekend.
The study found players at clubs that host pride cup games – which aim to support LGBTQI+ players, fans and officials while challenging homophobia and transphobia within sporting clubs – used significantly less homophobic language than players at clubs that have never hosted a game.
A total of 515 clubs across Australia have been involved in pride cup matches, with approximately 65 per cent of those football clubs.
The data found players at Australian football clubs used more homophobic language, and more often, than players at cricket and field hockey clubs. However, players at clubs that hosted pride games reported higher levels of confidence to challenge homophobic behaviour than players at clubs that had not hosted a pride game.
In data collected by the survey, 31.8 per cent of male players at football clubs that had never hosted a pride game said they had used homophobic language in the past two weeks, against 11 per cent of players at clubs that had previously hosted a pride game.
More than half (56.6 per cent) of male players at clubs that had never hosted a pride game reported their teammates had used homophobic language in the previous two weeks versus around a quarter (25.9 per cent) that had previously hosted a pride game.
“The frequent use of homophobic language by players in the VFL and at amateur clubs would make players feel unsafe and unwelcome to play the sport,” said Dr. Erik Denison, Faculty of Education, one of the authors of the study.
“There is an urgent need to find effective ways to stop men and boys from using homophobic language when they are playing sports. This language is very harmful to the mental health of LGBTQ+ sport participants,” said Denison.
“This is the second study to find large differences in the homophobic language used by players at clubs which host pride games, compared to clubs which have never hosted these games. A previous study found this in ice hockey.”
James Lolicato, CEO of Pride Cup, said when pride matches and programs were done in the right way, they have shown to have great advantages for LGBTQI communities, including breaking down stigma and discriminatory language.
Season seven features the third dedicated round in the AFLW.Credit:AFL Photos / Getty Images
“We know that the LGBT community is the most underrepresented community in sports and recreation and a lot of that is because of the fear of discrimination and abuse,” said Lolicato.
“Unfortunately, we know that almost nine out of 10 gay male youth are still in the closet in their sporting clubs, and it’s still around 75 per cent of women that are in the closet within their sporting clubs as well because of that fear of discrimination.
“So when you do these games in the right way, using education consultation as a key tool, it can have a huge impact on the behaviours and language that happens within sporting clubs.”
This weekend, all 18 AFLW clubs will participate in the third dedicated league-wide pride round in the women’s competition, with each team wearing a uniquely designed jumper. In contrast, in the men’s competition two clubs, St Kilda and Sydney, play a pride game each year.
Denison says the men’s competition needs to follow the lead of women and adopt pride games across the league and should work with amateur clubs so pride matches were adopted at all levels of the game.
In response, the AFL noted the establishment of the Swans-Saints pride game in 2016.
“[And] any opportunity to listen, learn and highlight stories from the LGBTIQA+ community, and continue to promote diversity and inclusion is welcomed by the AFL,” a league spokesperson said.
Speaking at the AFLW pride launch on Thursday, general manager of women’s football at the AFL Nicole Livingstone said the round was vital for education.
“The education of pride round is really important for us as well. The players take that as part of their responsibility to be able to educate the community. Everybody is welcome at AFLW and, you know, really, that should be the way that sport is presented, that everybody is free to be themselves.”
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