17c起草社区

Homophobia has once again dominated the headlines around the AFL, this time with an ongoing saga centred around St Kilda player Lance Collard and the use of homophobic slurs on the field. 17c起草社区 reached out to AFL superfans in the 17c起草社区IA+ acronym about how this has affected them, and if it changes their relationship to the game they love.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been challenging for a number of reasons, I guess,鈥� says Nat Taylor, who describes themselves as a 鈥淪ydney Swans tragic鈥�.

鈥淚’ve always loved sports. I have grown up loving sport, particularly AFL,鈥� he says, 鈥淏ut we’ve had a number of instances over the last two years of players at VFL and AFL level being suspended for homophobia, and I think the statements and the actions of the AFL around that have been minimalistic at best.鈥�

鈥淚t has been a disappointing and upsetting but also unsurprising situation,鈥� says author Darcy Green, who loves the AFL so much they

鈥淭he AFL(M) has a history of handling situations involving homophobia badly, so this was really business as usual. It does suck 鈥� it makes it hard to just enjoy watching the footy. Unfortunately, I accepted long ago that the AFL(M) being garbage as an institution (and the systemic cultural issues) are not enough to make me stop watching the game鈥�.

Collard was recently found guilty of calling an opposing VLF player a 鈥渇ucking faggot鈥� last month, marking the second time in three seasons the 21-year-old has been found guilty of using homophobic language in a VFL match. He was initially given a historically long suspension as a result, however the AFL Appeals Board then reduced the sentence, saying:

鈥淲e observe that football is a hard game. It is highly competitive, particularly at its higher levels,鈥� they wrote in their verdict. 鈥淚t is commonplace that players can employ language from time to time which is racist, sexist or homophobic whilst on the field.鈥�

The normalisation of this kind of language led to a massive outcry, with chair of the appeals board Will Houghton KC sacked, and AFL boss Andrew Dillon rejecting the appeals board鈥檚 reasoning, saying:

鈥淚n the AFL鈥檚 view, stronger action was not only warranted, it was necessary. Let鈥檚 be clear 鈥� homophobia has no place in Australian football. Not at any level. Not under any circumstances.鈥�

What鈥檚 it like being a queer AFL fan?

鈥淚 feel very welcomed by most of the AFL community,鈥� says Darcy Green. 鈥淎FLW games are always a complete delight. There are wonderful, inclusive spaces within footy.鈥�

Everyone we spoke to talked about how their personal experiences as AFL fans have been positive – and that homophobia seems to mostly rear its head when it鈥檚 played out on the field by the players. But even that can have a knock-on effect.

鈥淚 think the Sydney Cricket Ground is somewhere you feel incredibly safe and incredibly respected. I go there with my partner, we have our reserve seats that we have each season, and I鈥檝e always felt that you can be open and show affection, and don鈥檛 ever feel challenged by that,鈥� says Nat Taylor.

However Nat also talks about 鈥渁voiding social media鈥� when AFL homophobia comes into the news, as it鈥檚 there that plenty of vitriol seems to be expressed by other fans.

鈥淭he end result is that the LGBT community fans get targeted for being 鈥減recious鈥� or 鈥渢hin skinned鈥�, for not being able to take something.”

Darcy Green echoes this statement, saying 鈥渨henever this kind of thing happens, there will always be truly awful comments on social media about it from footy fans. It鈥檚 hard not to get continually sideswiped by people talking about how queer communities have no resilience, or the game鈥檚 going soft, and so on and so forth.鈥�

Comedian Samuel Roberts grew up playing footy, until he was 28, which also coincided with how long he stayed in the closet. He describes local and country AFL as his 鈥渃ommunity for a really long time鈥�.

Roberts credits playing AFL as the 鈥渂ig reason鈥� why it took him so long to come out of the closet, eventually turning his experience around loving AFL and being gay into a comedy show called 鈥�.

He says he was inspired to write the show after seeing all the usual comments from AFL fans minimising the harm of slurs, and wanted to acknowledge that 鈥渇or me casual homophobia was a massive issue that I was constantly met with in the game,鈥� making him feel like he couldn鈥檛 be himself within his own community.

Darcy Green also says that they have recently known 鈥渁 moment of hesitation鈥� when wearing their Pride scarf at games, ever since the the Izak Rankine incident last year, and particularly the subsequent booing of Isaac Quaynor (who committed the immortal sin of being called a 鈥渉ighly offensive鈥� homophobic slur by Rankine).

鈥淏ut then I remind myself that there might be people who need to see someone with a Pride scarf holding hands with their wife, and I put it on anyway. I won鈥檛 let a handful of bigots or anonymous dickheads on social media force me out of a space that鈥檚 as much for me as it is for anyone. It鈥檚 our game too, and we鈥檙e not going anywhere.鈥�

Does the AFL have a homophobia problem?

Recently two former AFL players have come out as queer – but Samuel Roberts believes that you only need to look at the fact that no current players in the AFL have ever come out to show that there is a homophobia problem in the AFL.

鈥淭here’s a reason why they came out after the game, right? All through my junior years I was being called gay or hearing other people be put down by being called gay. When I got older and I started to have attraction to other guys and started acting on those attractions, I felt shame and I felt like I couldn’t share that with any of my mates – because all of my mates were the guys that I saw three days a week playing footy. There’s got to be reasons why I didn’t feel comfortable sharing that.鈥�

Darcy Green thinks that there is a problem, and has been one for a long time.

鈥淏ut it鈥檚 also worth acknowledging that lots of people (including players) have been working hard to change that. One of the worst things about this situation is that it feels like it鈥檚 set back the work that has been done by others.鈥�

Green points to Alistair Clarkson, the coach of the North Melbourne AFL(M) team, calling a player on an opposing team a c***sucker.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 get a situation where players are using this language if it鈥檚 not something that they have heard, and hear tolerated, around them in locker rooms and other footy contexts. That suggests a homophobia problem to me.鈥�

What could the AFL be doing differently?

Nat Taylor believes that some of the AFL鈥檚 moves around the 17c起草社区IA+ community are 鈥渢okenistic鈥� and treat it more like a revenue stream.

鈥淚 guess the last two years just really emphasised the feeling hat the alphabet community is seen as a new revenue source for the AFL. The statements or initiatives they do around 17c起草社区 community are just because they’re a professional sport in Australia and they need to be seen to be doing something – but they don’t actually embody that inclusivity.鈥�

Taylor points to the fact that the Pride Round gets very little coverage or investment by the AFL as an example of this.

Darcy Green believes that the AFL could take responsibility for the issue and have much better procedures and policies governing how the use of homophobic/sexist/racist language is dealt with. They also note it鈥檚 hard not to see the Tribunal and Appeal Board process in this type of situation as a way for the AFL to shift focus and accountability, 鈥渟o they can say 鈥榸ero tolerance鈥� but then have a system that is not zero tolerance at all.鈥�

鈥淏eing accused of breaching the AFL Rules isn鈥檛 the same as being charged with a criminal offense 鈥� there is absolutely no reason the AFL couldn鈥檛 devise a process that prevented things turning into a complete circus.鈥�

鈥淚 think the AFL should be putting money into education, into like local teams,鈥� says Samuel Roberts, explaining that the AFL puts all their sensitivity training into the top level of the game.

鈥淏ut they’ve already learnt the rhetoric at that point. They’ve already been using that language. It’s about stopping it at the start and making local football clubs more inclusive and I think AFL have a responsibility to put money into education at that level. It’s not changing their thoughts on how to use this kind of homophobic language, it’s just giving them consequences if they use it.鈥�