Bulldog Jason Akermanis celebrates a goal during the AFL Round 01 match between the Fremantle Dockers and the Western Bulldogs at Subiaco. Slattery Images
Jason Akermanis has polarised opinions since he debuted for Brisbane in the mid 1990s. Even though his latest article is terribly written, and the Herald Sun’s headline has made the whole situation worse, there are some interesting points that warrant thorough debate before we lynch “Aker”.
Aker is right in some aspects: the AFL and the NRL cannot handle homosexuality.
As long as imbeciles like Sam Newman (who when imitating Bruce McAvaney, is snidely referring to rumours of the master sportscasters homosexuality, which has been denied) and Paul “Fatty” Vauntin (“Elton John’s” anyone) are given time to breathe their diarrhoea, the two sports codes will never be able to fully accept a homosexual player.
Despite Andrew Demetriou’s rose coloured glasses view that the AFL is a diverse, he fails to admit there are ugly sections in his sport that will never accept a homosexual player.
Until these people are weeded out, Akermanis is right that homosexuals cannot be accepted. What’s different in the NRL is that they already had a homosexual player revealed. Yet, despite Ian Roberts “coming out”, the blokey culture is still prevalent.
However, Akermanis is wrong in telling players to stay in the closet.
It is a silly thing to say as it installs fear and possible witch-hunt. Things can only change if someone “comes out” or there will be no incentive for a cultural revolution.
Gareth Thomas, the star Welsh rugby player, is an example. By coming out, he humanised the concept of a male homosexual sports star. More recently in Australia, Matthew Mitcham and Daniel Kowalski’s “out and proud” attitude has seen them embraced by Australia.
By playing the “don’t rock the boat” attitude, Akermanis is effectively is saying that he and his code want nothing to do with homosexuality.
Why is it in a world where female homosexual stars like Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova are celebrated for their courage, a male sports star is held in different regard?
Jason Akermanis was right: our blokey culture cannot handle a gay footballer at the moment.
But not encouraging those who are gay to be open and proud about who they are doesn’t help and adds the feeling of homophobia I feel still exists in our sporting culture.
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