‘This is us, we’re open, deal with it’: lesbian footy player
Image: Sophie Li. Image: Carlton Media.
The women鈥檚 AFL league held its inaugural pride match last month amidst a sea of rainbows. Jess Jones caught up with some of the women involved.
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The men鈥檚 AFL league has held two pride matches now, in an attempt to celebrate diversity and eradicate homophobia in the sport, and now the women鈥檚 league is following suit.
Women鈥檚 AFL (AFLW) , which saw the Western Bulldogs face off against the Carlton Blues, to champion both LGBTI people and women in football,
The Bulldogs approached the Blues with the idea of holding the match as a pride event. Both clubs have official pride supporter groups.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a part of the club that鈥檚 always celebrating and advocating for pride,鈥� says Sophie Li, a Carlton player.
鈥淚鈥檓 so excited that I can play and be a part of it all.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pioneering and it鈥檚 breaking down barriers in so many ways.
鈥淎s a gay person, I feel like it鈥檚 so amazing to be able to celebrate pride and to come together and celebrate the LGBTI community.鈥�
Li says she expected the day to be huge, with fans dressed up to honour the community, and she wasn鈥檛 wrong. Rainbow flags dotted the VU Whitten Oval, with a live broadcast by JOY 94.9 and queer fans cheering from the stands.
鈥淚 knew there was going to be a lot of rainbows everywhere,鈥� Li says.
Bec Dahl from Chicks Talkin鈥� Footy on JOY 94.9, the program that did the live broadcast for the game, says the pride match was organised because both clubs have a focus on inclusivity.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e very big on supporting the community and supporting diversity,鈥� she says.
She says many players are in same-sex relationships and are accepted by the AFLW community, even bringing their partners along to awards nights, in contrast to the degree of openness in the men鈥檚 league.
鈥淚t was quite refreshing to see all these girls with their female partners [at an awards night],鈥� she says.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so different to how it is in the men鈥檚 game鈥攃ould you imagine a man rocking up at the Brownlows with his male partner?鈥�
Dahl says that last year鈥檚 headline-grabbing kiss between Erin Phillips and wife Tracy Gahan at an AFL awards gala was symbolic of how accepted queer women are in the game.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been like: this is us, we鈥檙e open, deal with it,鈥� she says.
She attributes the openness about same-sex relationships in the women鈥檚 league to its relative newness.
鈥淢en鈥檚 football has traditionally been very closeted, but we didn鈥檛 have women鈥檚 AFL until recently,鈥� she explains.
鈥淭hese girls have grown up playing football just in local leagues, and have never had to hide who they are. There hasn鈥檛 been that stigma because women鈥檚 football didn鈥檛 exist at an elite level.
鈥淪o my take is that this is just a natural progression of them always having been out.鈥�
Dahl believes trans inclusion in sport is 鈥渢he next frontier鈥�.
鈥淚 think football is very comfortable with the G and the L, but I don鈥檛 think they鈥檝e quite got their head around the T,鈥� she says.
She thinks pride matches will continue to play an important role in demonstrating inclusion and diversity in the sport and in society.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that pride games will help to increase acceptance even more,鈥� Dahl says.
鈥淲e鈥檙e very excited.鈥�
