AFL footballers marched for the first time in the Melbourne annual gay-pride march on Sunday, 3 February. The press reported “thousands” joined the march in St Kilda in inner Melbourne. For video footage go to http://au.sports.yahoo.com/videos/watch/

Following on from the screening of what they call “No to homophobia” ads on the big screen during the preliminary finals last year, a gay-pride round is being proposed for Round 23 between Sydney and Hawthorn at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. Sydney as the gay capital of Australia is probably considered to be a more tolerant city in which to hold the first gay-pride round and it is reported that former Hawthorn President and head of anti-depression organisation Beyond Blue, Jeff Kennett, has been personally lobbying Andrew Demetriou to support a gay-pride round.

Jason Ball whose petition resulted in the screening of the ads during the preliminary finals, was invited to speak to young AFL draftees at induction camps last month. He is a very articulate, handsome and intelligent young man and will undoubtedly have a great influence on the young draftees.

Bullying for any reason is not to be tolerated and every person should be treated with respect and not gratuitously insulted. But this campaign is not about mutual respect and tolerance. It is about convincing the rest of the community that homosexuality is the same as heterosexuality and normalising the homosexual lifestyle.

The message is being sent clearly to the AFL and particularly to boss Andrew Demetriou that it is the fault of the leadership that there is homophobia in the AFL and that no player has yet come out. (See Jill Stark of the Age pointing the finger at and putting pressure on the AFL leadership, those at the top – the players are not to blame – http://media.dailylife.com.au/news/national-news/afl-player-comes-out-in-support-of-gay-sister-3983047.html).

One player has “come out” that his sister is a lesbian and has a girlfriend. If no player has announced that he is homosexual perhaps he does not wish to publicise it. There could be any number of reasons, other than a “homophobic” culture in the AFL, why a player may not wish to advertise the fact he is homosexual, the most fundamental being that he simply wishes to keep his personal life private.

This is bullying and browbeating. A claim is made that there is a homophobic culture in the AFL. It is then treated as a fact and used to insist on the need for the issue of homosexuality to be put up on the big screen at football matches and for a gay-pride round to be held. In this way it is thrust in the faces of all the fans that they are impliedly guilty of homophobia and need to be educated not to be. It also deprives the many parents who wish to take their children to games of their right to raise these issues with their children at the appropriate time of their own choosing.