Aussie Rugby Tackles Homophobia
Australia’s national rugby union team, the Wallabies, have the backs of the Sydney Convicts (Australia’s only gay rugby union team, and current title holders of the Bingham Cup) and agreed to take part in the This Is Oz campaign, ACON’s social inclusion initiative aimed at fighting discrimination against Australia’s GLBT communities. The Wallabies decided to take part after meeting with The Sydney Convicts, club founder and former president Andrew Purchas told SX news;
“We’re very pleased that the Wallabies and the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has been so responsive and willing to support us and come on board with This Is Oz. Having these kind of high level professional sportsmen giving their support goes a long way to breaking down barriers , and countering the stereotypes and supporting diversity and acceptance … Kids really look up to these guys and follow their lead, so it really does a lot of good.”
This Is Oz is an online photo gallery where people can help fight discrimination against Australia’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community. Part art project, part human rights campaign, making Australia a place where everyone belongs.
*Players featured are from top l-r, David Pocock, Stephen Moore, bottom photo l-r, Al Baxter and Stirling Mortlock. See more of the Wallabies.
13 comments13 Comments so far
uh… what were we talking about? i was kinda distracted…
That’s awesome!! I wonder if American football will ever be open minded enough to do something like this.
That is fantastic. It’s a metaphorical warm fuzzy from a bunch of literal warm fuzzies. What could be better than that?
Fantastic! I am an ex-player for the Caledonian Thebans (Scotland’s Gay Rugby Team) I had the pleasure of being totally slaughtered by the Sydney Convicts at Bingham 2004. And a better bunch of guys you could never be beaten by! Well done lads, keep up this spectacular and groundbreaking work!
Hey Neil, thanks for the comment, great bunch of guys and a great idea too. Caledonian Thebans, great name, more at, The Caledonian Thebans homepage.
As John mentioned, we could only hope to see American Football/Grid Iron pull off such a campaign. Can you imagine my own personal faves The Pittsburgh Steelers holding up such signs, sadly I don’t think that’s a reality right now, I wish it could be otherwise.
Marv’s right, ain’t nuffin’ better than a fuzzy bunch complete with emotional intelligence and great sportsmanship. Big props to the Aussies.
nice i wish we in U.S. were as opened in sports as you.
What a refreshing article. It’s great to see how far other countries have come. It serves as inspiration that one day America will actually offer equality for all its citizens.
This is excellent. Imagine this campaign getting support and endorsement from some major worldwide sports brand to attract some high-profile american sports team/players to jump on board–it’ll be globally awesome! Oz putting the idea on the map-YEA!
[...] here is the story and [...]
I’m so proud of them!
Thank you, guys!
[...] gay rugby union team (and holders of the Bingham Cup title). Said Convicts founder Andrew Purchas: “We’re very pleased that the Wallabies and the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has been so [...]
I’ve found Australia in general to be less homophobic than the US. Rugby is also the first professional sport I’ve enjoyed watching. All in all, I’m very happy I moved.
Rahrrrrr ; cougar