Another storm in a media teacup ysterday. Jason Akermanis, who doesn’t appear to hate publicity, wrote a column in the Herald Sun, who also don’t appear to hate courting controversy, saying that the AFL isn’t ready for publicly gay footballers. Twitter broke a storm of outrage that quickly leaked over to the mainstream media, Akermanis was labelled a homophobe and a bastard.

I have a few friends on the police force. They’ve said to me that if someone they knew was sexually assaulted they would talk to them very seriously about the risks involved in reporting it. Not because they think sexual assault is anything but utterly abhorrent, but because they would not want to see someone they care about run the gauntlet the justice system sets up for victims of the most horrific sexual attacks. Remember the rape victim in Sydney who was told by a court that she couldn’t have been raped because she was wearing skinny jeans? That’s why a cop will tell a victim to find a good counsellor, find supportive friends, find support groups and be prepared for what will happen before you get the justice system involved.

It’s wrong. Victims of that kind of assault should never have to feel more scared of the justice system than the perpetrator does, but tragically, it is true. Acknowledging it, dragging that horrible fact out into the light is not being politically incorrect or saying in any way that sexual assault is ok, it’s dealing with reality and making sure that people who have already suffered horrificaly know what they are getting into before they make the choice to jump.

Akermanis was doing exactly that in warning football players to think carefully before coming out. He said, quite clearly, that he wishes it were not the case and that he hopes it will change.

He was also quite up front about his own discomfort with the idea of being in a shower with a gay man. I’d willing bet all the money in my pocket against all the money in yours that he is not the only football player to feel that way. Does it make him more homophobic that he will publicly admit to his discomfort? Would the outraged left prefer these things to stay hidden and have the AFL either completely ignore the issue or mouth politically correct lies while keeping fear of homosexuality hidden in their dark corners?

There’s got to be some pretty good reasons that not one single football player of any code has come out while still being a professional player. Yes I know about Ian Roberts, but he didn’t come out until after he had retired. Akermanis is right in saying that it would be a heavy burden to bear for any single player. Simply acknowledging this fact does not condone it.

I agree wholeheartedly with Akermanis in his “hope the environment changes to a degree where coming out isn't a big deal”, and I hope that his article is the first step towards genuine change. It’s already had some effect, because less than 24 hours after his article was published we had this and this. It's forced the AFL to confront this issue head on, and that's got to be a good thing. Well done Jason, and thanks.

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