It’s A Bi! Australia Celebrates Its First Openly Bisexual AFL Player

“I’m a bisexual man”

With those four words, former West Coast Eagles player Mitch Brown didn’t just shake up the AFL – he’s reshaped how Australia sees bisexual men.

Bi men are in the headlines for all the right reasons — especially seeing as we just celebrated Bi+ Visibility Day at the end of last month — and many thought we would never see the day.

Mitch Brown’s historic letting-in as the first ever openly bisexual AFL player (current or retired) has inspired people of all walks of life these last few weeks.

Australia has been asking ‘where are the gay AFL players?’ for decades now, being the only major sporting code globally – until now – with no openly queer male players. And it’s been a long time coming — the AFL has existed for 127 years without a single player coming out as gay or bisexual.

Every time we have heard that question, our response is ‘you’re asking the wrong question…’ or at least, an incomplete one.

Mitch shattered that old narrative, showing that bi men are here – and our bravery in coming out is nothing short of inspiring. That’s especially powerful when you consider that only 1 in 5 bi men are out to those around them.

That’s what makes it even more moving to see Mitch’s current and former partners, both women, publicly celebrating his coming out. For so many bi men, disclosure risks rejection. Mitch and his loved ones have shown us what it looks like when coming out is met with love.

The rest of us continue to celebrate – the LGBTQIA+ community is united in its praise, the sporting community and broader community have been much the same. Even in many of the online comments sections there is an overwhelming sense that people are getting it, are we seeing a turning point in how bisexuality is being viewed? We sure hope so!

When Mitch said in his initial interview with The Daily Aus, “I’ll stand with you” to any future queer AFL players, he wasn’t just talking footy.
He was talking to all of us. His story reminds us that we are worthy of love – and worthy of living openly as our authentic selves.