20/05/10 - Australia’s largest community-based gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) health organisation has expressed concern at comments from AFL player Jason Akermanis who has called for gay AFL players to keep their sexuality private.

In his regular column for various publications, Western Bulldogs midfielder Jason Akermanis has told gay players not to ‘come out’ because the world of AFL is not ready to accept them.

ACON CEO Nicolas Parkhill says Mr Akermanis’ comments are ignorant and dangerous.

“Mr Akermanis says players being open about their sexuality is a risk to the ‘fabric’ of AFL clubs and their culture. However, hundreds of thousands of gay men and lesbians have been open about their sexuality for decades in our society and the ‘fabric’ of our culture has remained intact.

“Diversity is one of the great strengths of Australian society and is a value that should be embraced by all organisations in our community, including sporting clubs.

“In his column, Mr Akermanis also claims that he hopes male sporting environments will become more accepting in the future of openly gay players. This is unlikely to happen as long as comments such as these are made by leading sporting figures.

“He also states that “It's not the job of the minority to make the environment safer.” It is actually everyone’s job to make our society a safer place for everybody and this includes sporting clubs and AFL players.

“Research shows that same-sex attracted people are up to six times more likely to experience violence than the general population and suicide rates are up to 14 times higher for gay men and lesbians.

“Homophobic comments from people with high public profiles are extremely concerning because they perpetuate the stigma and discrimination which impact negatively on the health of GLBT people in this country.”

Mr Parkhill says all major football codes in Australia have recently thrown their weight behind a series of online campaigns to tackle discrimination against GLBT people.

“For the last 12 months, ACON has been running a human rights campaign called This Is Oz where people can upload images of themselves holding signs that challenge homophobia or celebrate social diversity. The URL is www.thisisoz.com.au

“This campaign has been endorsed by the players and management of the Wallabies, the NSW State of Origin team and the Penrith Panthers. The AFL itself has endorsed a similar campaign in Victoria.

“We congratulate these players and club officials for their support and encourage people like Mr Akermanis to move with the times, face up to the impact of homophobia and then hopefully do their bit to help make Australia a place where everyone belongs.”

Visit www.thisisoz.com.au to view the images of the Wallabies, the NSW State of Origin team and the Penrith Panthers.

Visit www.stophomophobiatoday.com to view images of various AFL players and officials.