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Akermanis on gays in the AFL

August 20th 2008 08:22

Jason Akermanis

'Aka' is always outspoken, and often in trouble for it, and he's the one who has broken the AFL players silence on the issue of gays in Australian Rules Football.

Outwardly it's the issue the AFL don't want to touch. On my radio show a senior AFL official said, in effect, that if a player came out, then the anti-vilification rules would of course apply, but to date no one has, and until they do, the AFL can't do anything.

That's nonsense, of course, but the hierarchy is for some reason terrified of taking a pro-active stance and making it safe for a player to come out.

Aka explains why that might not be the best approach. He describes the way players regularly call one another 'poofters' (and other jibes with the same meaning) when they're on the pitch.

This is the first time I can recollect anyone from the AFL admitting publicly that this sort of homophobic sledging goes on.

The AFL says they can't stop that until a player complains he's been vilified on the grounds of his sexual orientation - which is nonsense. The AFL has made it plain that racist language is unacceptable. They could make it equally plain in a second that homophobic language and behaviour is taboo, too.

But that would be tantamount to admitting there are gay players in the sport - something Aka (and simple common sense) confirms.

Clearly the issue is boiling up inside the sport, with comments in the press from coach Kevin Sheedy, former captain (and now club director Nathan Burke), and now veteran player Jason Akermanis.

But Aka is the first to point a possible way forward. Assured of the support and shelter of the hierarchy, the first gay player to come out could reap a fortune in endorsements, as well as easing at one move the horrible burden of insult and vilification from other players at all levels.

It will take big shoulders to carry all that. But there's no shortage of them in the sport!

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: Melbourne, Victoria, discrimination, equality, gay lesbian politics, equal rights, popular culture, sport

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Careless talk costs lives

August 5th 2008 00:08

The old WW2 slogan is especially true when major public figures like politicians, churchmen and celebrities make ill-considered untrue statements about homosexuality. Such statements can quite literally kill.

It’s not that GBLTI folk are more at risk of suicide and depression because they’re GLBTI: they’re more at risk because of the way they’re treated by other people.

When you experience on a regular basis:

• Hostility and/or rejection from family, parents and friends
• Bullying and name-calling at school
• Rejection by your church, temple, mosque or synagogue
• Danger of violence in public places
• Harassment from neighbours and other tenants
• Casual homophobic comments on an everyday basis
• Embarrassed response (and occasionally prejudice) from professionals, such as GPs
• No protection against discrimination at work
• Negative portrayal of gay people in the media

And you try to protect yourself by

• Denying your sexual orientation, leading to conflicts, denial, alcohol abuse and isolation.
• Trying to keep your sexuality a secret through lying, pretending or leading a double life.

You end up suffering

• Low self-esteem.
• Increased risk of self-harm and suicide attempts.
• Damaged relationships or lack of support from families.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression from long-term effects of bullying.

[Thanks to the UK National Health Service for this summary]

Jeff Kennett said that country football club Bonnie Doon was correct to sack its trainer of 22 years, Ken Campagnolo, when it discovered he was bisexual, because,
"The club felt that once this had been pointed out and you had this gentleman there who was obviously close to young men - massaging young men - it ran an unnecessary risk and that's why it decided it was best that he not perform those duties again.”

"It's the same if you have a pedophile there as a masseur, right?"

"And you might say the pedophile would do no damage, but once it was pointed out to you, you have a duty of care to those underage children not to put them in a situation of risk."

"….. what has been occurring in various churches . . . has heightened public opinion and led to many organisations trying to put in place programs or actions to minimise risk to individuals within organisations or clubs.”

That did several dangerous things that could leave Kennett with blood on his hands:

• Endorsed the totally false view that GBLTI people are no better than paedophiles – and look at the community reactions to paedophiles we’ve seen in the news in recent weeks
• Endorsed and gave comfort to bullies and gaybashers
• Made it more likely that young GLBTI people would be shunned by friends, colleagues, team mates, parents, teachers and others, increasing their isolation and their risk of self-harm
• Made it more dangerous for young GLTBI people to participate in or support sports, especially Hawthorn
• Made it more likely that young people coming to terms with their sexuality would try to deny their feelings, hate themselves, harm themselves, even attempt suicide

That’s why it’s very important that Mr Kennett immediately

• publicly retracts his remarks and says he was wrong
• acknowledges that there is zero risk in GBLTI people working as trainers in football clubs and indeed anywhere where intimate contact is part of the job
• undertakes a course of study to inform himself of the truth stated above
• supports, and commits beyondblue to support and fund, a major initiative to stamp out such prejudices within the AFL.

The AFL has already done it with racism: it can do it with homophobia. The English Football League has done it: there’s a ready-made model sitting on the shelf, ready to go. The VCFL are doing it. The Victorian Ministry of Sport governance manual will mandate it. It’s time for Kennett and beyondblue to get off their butts and get to work before another kid dies.

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: Australian politics, Melbourne, Victoria, discrimination, gay lesbian politics, sport

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Pigs worth more than Queers

August 4th 2008 03:22

Neil Mitchell's priority

On 3AW talkback shock-jock Neil Mitchell heavily downplayed the seriousness of Jeff Kennetts remarks comparing bisexuals to paedophiles, making it sound as though the gay community had overreacted.

And took no calls on the issue, preferring nice safe chats with piglovers and pigfarmers about animal welfare and cruelty.

Mitchell interviewed ALSO Chief Executive Lyn Morgain about the ad the gay community placed in the Age at the weekend.

His questioning was fairly hostile.

He tried to imply that despite the mass of organizations that had put their names to the ad, they only represented a small number of people. He wanted to know how many individuals those groups represented.

He also questioned the right of arts groups like the Queer Film Festival and Midsumma to buy into the ad.

He tried to mount an attack on the basis that these groups could be using public money to pay for the ad. He appeared not to understand that grant funding is usually quarantined for specific purposes and so could not be used for political purposes.

Then he insisted that Jeff hadn’t been given enough chance to respond. When did you call Jeff? Friday afternoon? Far too late – the ad would have been booked then.

He brushed aside the information that Richard Watts of MCV (and numerous others, including myself, James Campbell [the Sunday Herald Sun journalist who broke the story] and Neil Mitchell himself) had been unable to get a response, because “they’re journalists, that’s different.”

Lyn fought back, pointing out that Jeff was not a victim, and the community concern was for the young people at risk.

Mitchell wrapped up the interview saying it would have been better to have contacted Jeff first, what Jeff said was “silly and badly worded – not taken out of context, badly worded” – but it would have been fairer to handle it differently and give Jeff a chance to respond.

Well, Jeff had many many chances to withdraw his remarks and apologise in the course of the week, and refused to do so. He’s been asked numerous times to permit the release of the verbatim transcript of the interview to prove he was taken out of context, and he hasn’t, probably because he knows that would show that he has been accurately reported. That leaves James Campbell looking like he really did distort what Kennett said – and I have now spoken to two people to whom Campbell has read what he says is the full transcript, and based on that I would have to say Kennett was fairly and accurately reported.

And finally, Neil Mitchell – making the excuse that he didn’t have the original text in front of him (such sloppy preparation, Neil?) – made no mention of the key fact: that Kennett clearly stated that the risk of having a bisexual in the change rooms was the same as the risk of having a paedophile in the sacristy.

Mitchell merely mumbled something about Kennett having been interpreted as saying that any gay man was predatory and going to force himself on people. That would have been bad enough, but that’s not what Jeff said. Jeff said it was as if you had a paedophile at the club.

Either Mitchell was woefully unprepared, or willfully distorting the facts and thereby belittling the cause of the community anger.

It is also telling that he took no calls on the issue, but went back to taking calls about cruelty (or not) of docking piglets tails and teeth in pigfarming. I guess pigs are worth more than poufs in Mitchelland.

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Posted By: Doug Pollard - Category: Melbourne, Victoria, discrimination, equality, gay lesbian politics, equal rights, radio, sport

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Kennett now equates bisexual footy trainers with pedophile priests

August 2nd 2008 21:00

Dark Night Priest

Well, I was going to lay off Jeff Kennett, but the man just keeps chewing on that foot in his mouth. In the Herald Sun today he continues to make a link between bisexuality and pedophilia. Such a link does not exist, and such a slur is incredibly damaging

[ Click here to read more ]

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