SYDNEY– The five major sports in Australian have pledged to ‘eliminate’ homophobia and have committed to an ambitious timeline for implementing new policies and programs. Australian Football League’s Andrew Demetriou (CEO), Australia Rugby Union’s Bill Pulver (CEO), National Rugby League’s Dave Smith (CEO), Football Federation Australia’s David Gallop (CEO) and Cricket Australia’s Ben Amarfio (Exec. General Manager) signed a commitment at an event, on Wednesday, to eliminate homophobia in their sport.The leaders have committed to ensuring gay, lesbian and bisexual (GLB) players, coaches, administrators and fans feel safe and welcome.
This is the first time in the world that all the major professional sports in a country have collectively committed to implement specific policies and changes as well as to a timeline. They were brought together by the organisers of Bingham Cup Sydney 2014, the world cup of gay rugby, as well as leaders of Australia’s first gay rugby union club, the Sydney Convicts. The five sports agree to implement policies and changes consistent with a newly created Anti-Homophobia and Inclusion Framework, by the end of August, 2014. This is when thousands of international gay rugby players, fans and media arrive in Australia for The Bingham Cup, hosted by the Sydney Convicts.
“I’m proud to see Australian sports play such an important leadership role through making this commitment to diversity and inclusion,” said Australia’s Minister for Sport, Peter Dutton. “There is no place for discrimination on our sporting fields, in our clubs or sports organisations.” The Australian Government was represented at the event by Minister for Communications, Malcolm Turnbull.
The Federal Minister and the sport leaders were joined by a range of high-profile, past and present Australian players including Nick Farr-Jones (ARU), Ed Jenkins (ARU), Greg Inglis (NRL), Jess Palmer (NRL), Phil Davis (AFL), Mike Pyke (AFL), Sasa Ognenovski (FFA), Sarah Walsh (FFA), Nathan Lyon (CA) and Alex Blackwell (CA).
A powerful 30-second anti-homophobia ad was also be premiered at the event. It features the ‘who’s who’ of Australian sporting stars, including Mitchell Johnson (Cricket), Ryan Harris (Cricket), Harry Kewell (Football), Alessandro Del Piero (Football), Paul Gallen (Rugby League), Nate Myles (Rugby League), David Pocock (Rugby Union), Lauren Jackson (Basketball), Nathan Jones (Australian Rules), Sam Mitchell (Australian Rules), Kim Green (Netball) and Libby Trickett (Swimming). The Community Service Announcement was produced for Play by the Rules in conjunction with the American based charity ‘You Can Play. It will be aired nationally this year on TV and at stadiums.
Andrew Purchas, president of Bingham Cup Sydney 2014 and Founder of the Sydney Convicts Rugby Club, said “Many gay, lesbian and bisexual people still stay in the closet, or drop out of sport altogether, because of homophobic attitudes and discrimination in sport. We have very few gay professional sportspeople who have felt safe to be open about their sexuality while competing and to ultimately be role models to others. With these initiatives, we hope to see significant changes to sporting culture. The major professional sporting codes are committed to do more than ban homophobic sledges. They have committed to create encouraging and welcoming sporting environments for gay, lesbian and bisexual people, whether they participate as players, officials or supporters.”
