AFL Pride round in Mackay – ABC News

My name is Therese Wilcock from the Moranbah Bulldogs.  I think pride round’s a really important part of our league and of our code, because visibility is probably one of the easiest ways to make other LGBTQIA+ people feel safe, if they know that they’re not the only ones that are also playing this sport. So there’s Yeah, the visibility and just the opportunity to be proud and be loud is really important. I remember when I first moved to Moranbah, I remember being very daunted by the idea that it was a smaller country town than what I was used to. So I was very cautious. When we first got here of very aware of what I was doing, I wouldn’t hold my partner’s hand or anything like that, just because I didn’t know what it was going to be like. So I think pride round makes you feel more comfortable, and it makes you be comfortable in your own skin. And it’s really kind of what helped me make Moranbah my hometown, probably one of the single greatest things in Moranbah that really made me feel at home here was the Moranbah Bulldogs, we have such a close family feel at our club that if it wasn’t for them, we probably would have left town a couple of years ago, and we’ve been here maybe six or seven years now. So and I plan on raising my children here. And just everyone’s treated equally, everyone’s important kind of vibe that we have at the club really helped to make Moranbah home

It is a big thing, too, I think, could you try to explain to me why it is. So I guess important for sport to really get around these pride issues?   They have that ability to connect people in a way that they’re not really connected, like it’s not your workplace, it’s not your school, you know, you can end up being friends with people that you’d never would have been friends with otherwise, all because you enjoy sports, or you enjoy this particular sport. And I think it’s really important for sport like AFL and all of the other sports that there are around there to get involved in pride rounds and things like that. Because even though you would assume that a lot of women that play sport are in fact gay, I know when I first joined the club, I was probably one of the only gays that I was aware of on the team. So sometimes, particularly in men’s sports, but even in women’s sport can have this vibe where you know, the gays still aren’t kind of welcome because, you know, everyone’s changes together. And you know, we all train together. And we all talk about our husbands and our wives and our partners and things like that. So it can be a really intimate friendship, which, if you’re not openly gay, can be a little intimidating and I think pride round really helps to just bring down those walls and if you’ve never asked someone whether their partner is male or female program gives you the opportunity to be a little bit more visible and to show that that we are just everyday people.

Is there anything any particular jerseys you’re wearing this weekend? I’m pretty sure all grades will be wearing rainbow socks. And I know that the women’s team has a specially designed rainbow guernsey that’s got our local LGBT organisation on the front of it on the brand. So it’s pretty cool.