There’s no doubt that discrimination runs rife in the Australian sporting realm. It’s piss-poor behaviour that in the last few years sporting codes have actively tried to curb.
From punters in the stands booing Adam Goodes mercilessly to NRL players going on really fucking weird homophobic rants, there’s a lot of work to be done by sporting codes and their fans alike. Sport in Australia has been very clearly crying out for action to be taken, and now we’re making progress.
The 2017 LGBTI Inclusion Awards were held in Sydney today, celebrating the progress of acceptance and inclusivity across the business and sport worlds.
The AFL has nabbed the award for Pride in Sport Index Organisation of the Year, and St. Kilda Football Club have picked up the gong for Inclusive Club.
The awards were given for the AFL’s excellence in LGBTI inclusive policies within the code, and for St. Kilda’s efforts in kicking off the inaugural Pride Round last year.
David Pocock has also taken home the award for LGBTI Ally Champion and ANZ Bank has taken out the top spot for Australia’s 2017 Employer of the Year.
The team at the Aids Council of NSW (ACON) have been implementing the Pride In Sport and Pride In Diversity programs, which provide support to and celebrate the progression in diversity and LGBTI inclusion in the Australian sport and corporate worlds.
Each program produces its own index, the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) has been around since 2010, and this year marks the first year of the Pride in Sport Index (PSI).
These indexes take into consideration how much effort is being put in to make workplaces and sporting codes more accepting and welcoming of LGBTQI folk – both within the organisation or company, and with the public/punters.
PEDESTRIAN.TV spoke with Andrew Purchas from ACON earlier this year about homophobia in sport and the purpose of the PSI, check it out below.
Bloody big congrats to everyone, it’s so great to see that we’re making steps towards a more accepting playing field.
Source: ACON.
Photo: Getty / Scott Barbour.
