The AFL has come a long way in recent years, initiating campaigns to deal with racism, sexism and violence.

But the AFL doesn’t exactly have a reputation for being gay-friendly.

You don’t see rainbow stickers at the entrance to the MCG. Nor do they change the colour of the ball to pink during Mardi Gras. More often than not, Joe Public don’t think twice before yelling, “Pick up the ball ya poof” at a match.

But times are changing and the super macho world of the AFL is embracing diversity.

In April this year, the AFL Players Association launched an inclusion and diversity campaign to coincide with the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), which is held on 17 May. Some of the AFL’s biggest stars like Brownlow medallist Jimmy Bartel were photographed holding placards saying, “Everyone deserves a sporting chance.” Or Kangaroos ruckman Drew Petrie rhyming his way to diversity, “Black, white, gay or straight, it’s about diversity mate!” And West Coast Eagles defender Brett Jones simple message, “Don’t hate.”

But will a bunch of players scribbling on cardboard encourage a more tolerant environment for the gay and lesbian community?

Professor Gary Dowsett from La Trobe University’s Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society believes it is a positive first step but it hasn’t gone far enough. He said that calling it a diversity campaign downplays the homophobic element of discrimination. He cites inequalities, oppression, marginalisation and lack of belonging as “much more serious issues inside the soft focus of diversity.”

Professor Dowsett concedes the campaign does have benefits. “People who maybe bigoted or prejudiced or ignorant may find diversity easier to handle. From that point of view I think it is a reasonable strategy.”

Richard Watts, writer and founder of Collingwood gay and lesbian supporters group, the Pink Magpies, agrees. “I thought it was really, really positive. The majority of the images were general images against discrimination, not overtly focussing on homophobia. To me it’s actually a positive because it ... makes a clear link between homophobia and racism.” Watts said the general public are now very familiar with the AFL’s anti racism message. “To get ... a fairly subtle but coded link between ‘racism is no good’, let’s put homophobia on the same page, I thought was actually really valuable.”

Watts compared the AFL’s strategy with the English Football Association’s anti-homophobia campaign this year. The FA was going to launch a TV ad campaign featuring high profile soccer players condemning homophobia. The plan was canned when not one high profile player agreed to appear in the video. Some players said they were too busy to take part, but insiders say they just didn’t want to be singled out or have people mistakenly believe they were gay.

This wasn’t the first setback the campaign faced. In February, the FA released a viral video showing a man verbally abusing people at his work, on the train and even on the street. The language was aggressively homophobic and the message was clear; you wouldn’t say this at work, why say it at the football ground? The video was seen as too graphic and polarising and the FA shelved their plans to show it at Wembley Stadium.

A gay Kangaroos supporter Pete Kung, 40, has witnessed his share of homophobic taunts at the footy, “Oh yes constantly, isn’t that what football is about? Foul language.”

But it hasn’t stopped him waving the flag for the Roos. While he has never copped any abuse himself, Kung admits, “To be honest, I’ve never felt particularly safe at the football. But that’s kind of the danger and fun of it. If you go to a Collingwood game, it’s like going into a swamp. It’s really weird, shouty and bogan. Football is full of rough people but generally they are pretty polite.”

Professor Dowsett, a gay Collingwood supporter, recalls his childhood trips to VFL matches with his father in the 1970’s.

“As a bit of a sissy boy, I felt incredibly uncomfortable in that kind of environment, particularly loud men screaming at umpires, calling them all sorts of things. The epithets that they screamed in those days were not something you could counter in the same way you can today. I do think that those places can be uncomfortable.”

Richard Watts set up the Pink Magpies as a way for members of the GLBTI community to feel safe and comfortable at a football match. Wearing Pink Magpies jumpers to games could have made them easy targets for homophobic taunts, but instead they had people coming up and asking about the group. They not only had the support of the Collingwood Football Club, but one of their most vocal champions was Club President, Eddie McGuire.

Although Watts believes that homophobia is still alive and well in football, his recent experiences show a shift in the attitude of supporters. “I went to Collingwood versus Essendon on ANZAC Day this year and I did not hear one single piece of homophobic abuse. That says to me that society has changed enormously in the nine years since we were established.”

This may also explain why the Pink Magpies called it quits in 2005. “It outgrew a need to exist. I see it as a generational thing. Most members of the group were 35 years plus. A generation of gay men who were much more conscious and more nervous about expressing their sexuality in public. The younger generation... see the Pink Magpies as kind of irrelevant and that’s why it didn’t continue.”

But would this attitude of acceptance extend to an AFL player if they came out of the closet?

In May this year, an article by Western Bulldogs star Jason Akermanis in the Herald-Sun encouraging gay footballers to stay in the closet brought the issue into focus. Akermanis says that he is not homophobic and supports gay players, but also says, “The world of AFL footy is not ready for it.” Akermanis argues that an AFL club is not the most welcoming or safe place for a gay man.

Professor Dowsett agrees. “I don’t think anyone in their right mind would say the AFL is a completely 100% safe place to be a gay person. And to pretend that the AFL is completely fine and dandy would be more hypocritical than to say it’s not. Maybe the way he worded it was unfortunate but I think, in a sense, he was putting his finger on something that is true about many places.”

Andrew Swanson, a senior player in Melbourne’s Northern Football League has witnessed homophobic taunts within his team, but believes it comes with the turf, “It’s a pretty masculine environment.” He says that he has noticed a change over the years. “People have really developed to embrace all sorts these days. People are a bit more worldly. It’s very old fashioned if you say ‘oh he’s a soft bloke’.”

Swanson, 30, thinks that a player’s sexuality has little to do with how they play football. One of his former team mates was gay and open about it with the team. Swanson said that regardless of his sexuality, he was a top player, “His attack on the ball was second to none. Footy wise he approached it like any other bloke.” He adds that he would be more than comfortable if a current team mate came out. “It would be fine. I wouldn’t have any dramas with that.”

But perhaps the real test is when the inevitable happens and an AFL player comes out of the closet. The treatment of the player and the reaction of the club and his team-mates will be examined closely. As will the reaction of Joe and Betty Public. Professor Dowsett is hopeful that the league will expand on its existing strategy of encouraging diversity.

“This is a long term project. There’s no shadow of a doubt you can just simply say because you’ve convinced the leadership and you’ve got certain programs in place the game’s over, the battle’s finished, it’s going to be a long, slow process.”

Could an AFL player admitting he is gay encourage people in the crowd to think twice before shouting a homophobic slur?
Will it encourage members of the GLBTI community to finally feel safe going to a game?

It might not be the only answer. But by including big names like Bartel and Petrie in their campaign, the AFL is at least taking positive first steps.

Maybe now is the time to put up the rainbow stickers on the gates of the MCG.