Study shows homophobia still widespread in Australian sport

Recent high profile examples of homophobia in Australia’s national media are consistent with experiences in sporting environments from the elite to the grassroots level according to a new survey.

Preliminary results from the first national study on homophobia in Australian sport show that the most common form of homophobia reported are verbal abuse terms such as ‘fag’, ‘dyke’ and ‘poofter’.

Nearly 2,500 players and spectators of many sports and at all levels took part in the Out on the Fields study and, among the 1,200 respondents who were lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB), 84% reported hearing such verbal slurs, while 74% of straight respondents reported the same.

This was followed in frequency by reports of homophobic jokes and humour, and casual comments such as ‘that’s so gay’.

Most LGB survey respondents - 64% - agreed or strongly agreed that homophobia in the form of comments, jokes, insults or abuse was more common in team sporting environments than in general society.

But heterosexual people were split on this question, with 47% agreeing.

Half of LGB respondents reported being a direct target of homophobia. Of those, one in four said they had experienced verbal threats, repeated bullying or had been excluded from social groups.

One in four heterosexual men also said they had personally been a target.

When the champion swimmer Ian Thorpe revealed he was gay last Sunday (13th July), one reason he gave for not coming out earlier was that he feared a negative reaction.

A researcher from the study and senior lecturer in sports ethics, Dr Caroline Symons from Victoria University, said while gay, lesbian and bisexual people were likely to experience a wide range of homophobic discrimination – particularly in team sports – the results showed straight people also experienced homophobic attacks.

Dy Symons explained “the big message is there’s still a lot we need to do in sport to make it more inclusive of gender and sexual diversity.”

Dr Symons stated that some positive moves had been made, with peak Australian sporting bodies and high-profile players from rugby league, rugby union, cricket and soccer uniting in April in a campaign to confront homophobia in sport.

She added “it’s challenging work and it will take actually take some resourcing, leadership, education programs, social marketing programs and conversations at the grassroots and elite sports levels to explore what clubs are doing well now in addressing homophobia in sport and what needs to be changed.”

The pro bono research was conducted by sports market research firm Repucom in partnership with researchers from six universities, the Federation of Gay Games and the Australian Sports Commission. The study is also being conducted internationally, with full results to be released in October.

The preliminary results were released on ahead of August’s Bingham Cup, a biennial international gay rugby union tournament.

For more information on Out on the Fields: The first International Study on Homophobia in Sport go to www.outonthefields.com

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