Melbourne: Responding to breaking news that Gold Coast Suns player, Wil Powell, has received a five match ban for use of a homophobic slur, Pride Cup CEO, Hayley Conway said: “Sanctions alone won’t stop players from making homophobic slurs. 

“Just like a fine doesn’t prevent every driver from speeding, sanctions won’t stop coaches, players, and fans from using LGBTIQ+ identities as an insult. 

“That these on-field actions are being reported shows that a decade of campaigns to end homophobia in sport are having real impact. It also shows just how common homophobic banter is.

“These words have real impact. Only 20% of LGB youth are ‘fully out’ to their sport teams, and those who are out are more likely to experience homophobic abuse. Young women are still dropping out of sport for fear of being targeted as a lesbian. These figures are unacceptably high, and out of step with broader society. LGBTIQ+ youth have a 6 x higher suicide rate than their straight peers. 

“We welcome the AFL’s statement of commitment to ‘increase the current yearly education programs regarding vilification that all AFL and AFLW players undertake’, and look forward to seeing the practical detail,” said Conway.

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About Pride Cup:

Pride Cup is the home of Australia’s first-ever PrideGame event promoting LGBTIQ+ inclusion in sport, we provide LGBTIQ+ inclusion education and support to host iconic rainbow-themed game days to sport clubs across Australia. Since launching in 2018, Pride Cup has worked with over 830 clubs across 25 different sport codes. Pride Cup’s unique model has been evaluated by Monash University and VicHealth, finding that Pride Cup clubs are 40-50% less likely to use homophobic language than non-Pride Cup clubs.