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Recent campaigns by the AFL have made great inroads into tackling homophobia in sport. But Cairns trans woman Michelle Diamond is taking it one step further by capitalising upon her love for AFL to raise awareness of transphobia. When Diamond applied to become an official goal umpire with the AFL鈥檚 north Queensland league in Cairns earlier this year, to her delight they accepted her request and signed her up for an umpire training program.

Overcoming her trepidations about the reactions of players and fans in such a traditionally 鈥榤asculine鈥� sport, Diamond decided to be herself, and be open about her gender identity.

鈥淚 was very nervous on my first training night I must admit鈥� but it was awesome鈥� Diamond told the Star Observer. 鈥淭hey are great towards me, I don鈥檛 get treated different from anyone else and haven鈥檛 had any major dramas at all.鈥�

Diamond was upfront to AFL management about her gender when she applied, and was pleased to be treated with respect and understanding. Her primary fears did follow her onto the field during her first training session but were quickly dispelled when she realised she was being seen as an equal.

鈥淲e all train together and everyone gets treated equally鈥� I love the sport that much and I look forward to training every week 鈥� as hard as it gets some nights.鈥�

Diamond鈥檚 passion for footie has not waned since she first fell in love with the game in the 1980s in Melbourne. She feels a huge amount of pride for the recent efforts by the AFL to combat and address homophobia within the sport, and hopes through her involvement that she can increase people鈥檚 understanding about transphobia.

鈥淎 lot of progress has been made I think over the past few years. I admire a lot of trans men and woman who are in the sporting community as it鈥檚 not easy out there by any means and the more people within sport who are educated and aware of transgender people and their rights, the more visible we will be.鈥�