Australian News:30 july 2022

Thursday night was supposed to be a proud moment in Australian sporting history?

Image credit:ABC news

For the first time ever, a team in the National Rugby League (NRL) will take to the field in a rainbow-detailed jersey, specifically celebrating the inclusion of LGBTQ people.
Instead, Manly Warringh Sea Eagles were forced to apologize after seven players decided to boycott the crucial match on "religious and cultural" grounds.

'Instead of increasing tolerance and and acceptance, we would have hindered it,'coach Des Hasler said earlier this week.

Amid huge protests, players were asked not to attend the game due to security reasons.

Former club great Ian Roberts - the first male professional athlete to come out as gay during his career - said he was "heartbroken" at the players' decision. NRL Women's Star Karina Brown Says Her Boycott Has Made Her "Outraged" and "Disappointed"

This would discourage other players from coming out, said Josh Cavallo, who is the only player in top-tier men's football at the world level.

But others---including some church leaders, fans nd players - defended the this boycott.

New Zealand Warriors player Shawn Johnson said, "To everyone if we are asked to to respect the pride community, we must also respect the Christian or or religious community."

Is this a toxic culture?

Seven players - Josh Aloi, Jason Saab, Christian Tuipulotu, Josh Schuster, Houmol Olakou'atu, Tolu Koula and Tofofoa Sipley - are not the first Australian athletes to object to wearing the rainbow jersey.


Last year, Australian Football League (AFL) women's player Hanin Jreka missed a game for the same reason.
But there have been many controversies regarding inclusion. Most famously, star player Israel Folau was sacked by Rugby Australia in 2019 for calling gay people "hell wait" on social media.


A few years ago, a 19-year-old NRL player used extremely profane and homophobic insults on an opponent. He was banned for two matches.
And in 2020, AFL women's player Tayla Harris was subjected to so much social media abuse - much of it sexist and homophobic - that she hired an online moderator to offer to drop her salary for the competition.

An A-League football club has since been fined after a mob abused Josh Cavallo, and transgender women have found themselves at the center of debates over who should be able to compete in the sport.
All this is a conspiracy to make Australian sport a largely uninteresting place for LGBTQ people, and children in particular, an expert in behavioral science tells the BBC.


'“Sport is so toxic right now,”' says Eric Denison, who has spent years researching inclusion in sport in Australia nd abroad.
His research on Australia, peer-reviewed and published over the past two years, found:


In traditional male sports such as rugby, AFL or league, only 1% of players identify as gay or bisexual.
About 36% of girls who play on youth teams report being victims of homosexuality, and more than half of the boys - those who have dropped out - are the most likely targets.
More than half of men in male-dominated sports say they have used homophobic language in the past two weeks
And homophobic attitudes in sport can have a very real impact, Mr. Roberts insisted, when considering the jersey debate.


It's very very personal to me, as N older gay man, because I've lost friends to suicide nd what homophobia, transphobia, nd all phobias can do to people.

Is Australia really that very bad?

Dr Denison says homophobia in sport is a global problem, but Australia is particularly reluctant to address it.


The fact that that Australia has taken so long to adapt to these things and are so hard is in itself a sign of a very serious problem, a lack of care nd a lack of honesty about itself.
Pride initiatives have been taking place in the UK for a decade and in the US and Canada. So why are they very less common in Australia?


It's the glory of the AFL. But Dr Dennison said it remains the only major professional men's sport globally that has never had openly gay or bisexual players, even after retirement.
Mr Roberts says he has long inspired the NRL to start a glory round, but suspects fear of a backlash from religious players and fans is stifling the movement.

But Dr. Dennison thinks the problem is a lack of willpower and a lack of planning.


"America is the most evangelical Christian country in the world ... and we've never had a situation like this.


''' you have to have a little strategy to get people into the journey."'


Manly Warringah Sea Eagles admitted they did not consult players about jerseys, and apologized for blinding them.
The club's president has said that seven players have already indicated that they will take part in any similar events next season - if they are consulted.


Among the results, the NRL says a competition-wide Pride Round is on the table for next year.
But how will Jersey help anyone? Dr Dennison says the Pride Game is actually the most – and arguably the only – effective bias reduction initiative researchers have found for the sport.


Young LGBT players and fans can see role models dressed in the colors of pride.


And research has found that teams hosting pride games are about 50% less homophobic and use less sexist and racist language.


Supporters are already showing they want better inclusion, argues Sea Eagles fan Hannah McGarry.


"The jersey is sold out, so it speaks for itself," she told the BBC.


But the damage has already been done by this saga, some say.
According to a media report, a young gay Sea Eagles player, who is yet to come out, is feeling discouraged from doing so due to the stand taken by his senior club-mates.


"He is devastated by this turn of events," a friend of the player told local network Nine.
"[He] just wanted to play first grade for Manly... ..He thought they'd accept him for who he is if he ever decided to make his sexual preferences public — clearly not."