#RainbowLaces the latest push to end homophobia in sport
Image: #RainbowLaces. Photo: Instagram via jogeshbowry
AUSTRALIA’S biggest sports have been called to action to show there is no place for homophobia in sport by getting involved in the first Rainbow Round of Sport (RROS).
ACON’s LGBTI workplace inclusion program, Pride in Diversity, has partnered with sportswear company Skins for the event that will take place from March 31 to April 4 across all major sporting codes.
Results of the 2015 Out on the Fields survey revealed only one per cent of respondents believed LGBTI people were accepted within sports and a further 78 per cent thought an LGBTI person would not be safe as a spectator at a sporting event.
Inspired by a similar campaign in the UK, major sporting codes and clubs have been invited to show their support for the campaign against homophobia in sport by wearing specially-commissioned rainbow laces (#RainbowLaces) during the RROS, which coincides with the launch of Australia’s first ever Pride in Sport (PSI) Index.
“Following the 2014 commitment by Australia’s major sporting codes in signing up to the Australian Anti-Homophobia and Inclusion Framework for Australian Sport we are excited to be launching the world’s first Pride in Sport Index (PSI) later this month,” said Andrew Purchas, ACON vice president and Pride in Sport Index co-founder.
“The index will be more than just a signature on a piece of paper. It will provide the means for sports organisations to demonstrate how they are reducing homophobia and transphobia and are making sport more accessible for all.”
All proceeds from the #RainbowLaces initiative will go to Pride in Diversity to support the development of the PSI.
“We have established a membership program to assist national and state sporting organisations and clubs across the country to better manage the change required to be more inclusive for LGBTI people,” Pride in Diversity senior manager Ross Wetherbee said.
#RainbowLaces are available for grassroots clubs free of charge at rainbowlaces.net and are available at registered at Rebel or Amart stores from March 21.
