The burden of visibility
Written by Jordan Davies
Coming out of the closet is a wild check point for a kid.
It’s like, every kid has things they need to check off in life, like finishing school, getting into uni, career, marriage, family – but some of us (the gays) get this extra one which is both hideously private, yet needs to be made public in front of our friends and fam.
Coming out publicly is even wilder if you’re someone who’s job has landed them in the spotlight because, like, how many people need to know that you like dick? For real.
I was scrolling the internet recently and saw that Out Magazine had posted about some guy who is the first openly gay NFL coach. And, after stalking the guy online, I couldn’t help but wonder how interesting it is that we’re still doing this. Like, I understand the importance of visibility. And I feel like we’re pushing to normalise homosexuality. Like, that’s the end game. But I can’t quite figure out the intersection of the two, and how we reach true parity if we still make a big deal about someone being publicly outed?
Which brings us to Four Corners (ABC) airing an episode about the homosexuality in the Australian Football League (AFL). Louise Milligan, the reporter behind the episode, says the AFL is the only league in the world that doesn’t have an openly gay player past or present, with the inference that the entire AFL organisation is therefore homophobic. And while it’s a statistic worth discussing, the presumption of an entire sports organisation being homophobic just because there aren’t any publicly gay players feels… a little specious.
The catalyst for this story was AFL CEO, Gillon McLachlan, confirming earlier this year that there are gay players within the league, but no one wants “the burden” of being the first to come out publicly.
And while Milligan makes some compelling arguments about this burden being something the AFL needs to address, it’s worth noting the omission of other contributing factors, and the conflagration of two separate issues: whether or not the AFL (the organisation) is actually homophobic, and the reasons players might not want to share their sexuality with the public.
Because the two are quite different.
Whether the AFL is homophobic would come down to an evaluation of organisational practices and policies, which includes the thousands of employees across the 18 teams, plus the head office etc. Just like any other business.
But to place the responsibility of disproving homophobia in an entire sports league on one person having to admit to the nation (possibly against his desire) that they like dick doesn’t feel like a fair compromise. And, like, would that one act even absolve an entire organisation of homophobia?
In the case of the AFL, you could argue that the fact that the CEO knows there are openly gay players means they have indeed created a safe, non-homophobic environment within the league. And the fact that those people choose not to share that with the world is maybe a reflection of the world, not their employers.
It’s interesting that we (the gays) may sometimes have to take it on good faith that organisations/communities are free of bigotry simply if they say so.
Or, maybe we still need to make peoples’ private lives public for a few more years.
If you have a situation you’d like to discuss on The Daily PrEP, please feel free to send a DM on Instagram or approach me at the Beresford on Sunday where I’m in the mindset to be harassed by strangers.