Andrew Barr

ACT Government to step-up campaigns against homophobia in schools and sport

Submitted by Andrew Barr on 17 May 2010 - 1:23pm
The ACT Government will step-up campaigns against homophobia in local schools and on the sporting field.
 
Homophobia impacts negatively on an individual’s self-esteem and can result in a sense of shame, guilt and self-loathing.  Around 10 per cent of young people experience feelings of same-sex attraction while they are at school.  Recent research shows that 60 per cent of same-sex attracted young people experience verbal or physical abuse and that three quarters of this abuse occurs at schools.
 
Sadly the word ‘gay’ is all too often used as a term of harassment in our schools. This makes life even more difficult for young people and compromises their education.
 
More needs to be done by the community and the government to create safer schools and stamp-out this form of discrimination. That’s why I’m pleased to announce today that the ACT Labor Government will develop new campaigns and strategies this year to ensure our schools are free of homophobia and are safer and more supportive of all students.
 
The ACT Government is also determined to stamp-out homophobia on the sporting field.
 
There’s no place for homophobia on the sports ground and I intend to ensure it no longer gets a guernsey. I am today committing ACT Labor to working with sporting organisations to eradicate it.
 
Victoria University research to be published this week shows gay men face considerable barriers to participating in sport. The research finds the most common sports that gay men would like to play but don’t, or feel they can’t are AFL, rugby league, rugby union and soccer. The research also finds that nearly half the gay men surveyed who play mainstream sport were not openly gay, with many saying they feared being judged and abused.
 
In light of this research, I welcome the AFL players’ Association Inclusion and Diversity campaign, which is supported by some of the biggest names in football, including Jude Bolton, Brad Sewell, Joel Selwood and Brownlow medalists Jimmy Bartel and Adam Goodes. The campaign will be launched this month.
 
I congratulate AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou and the AFL Players’ Association for their strong stand against homophobia in football.
 
I hope other sports, particularly the other football codes, will step-up their efforts and follow the AFL’s lead to ensure gay players are not discriminated against.
 
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