Tender Boy: Steamy Gay Romance & Hope For A Better World of Sport

James Robinson was working behind a bar when director Lee Galea asked if he was an actor. Beyond school plays, the answer was no. Now, he’s preparing to watch his first-ever acting gig, Galea’s feature film Tender Boy, at MQFF.

Quite the career change, babe!

Robinson plays Noah, a bartender (cute real-life parallel!) who falls for Cody, a footy player deciding whether to come out before being drafted into the AFL.

Premiering at Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF) this month, it’s a romance with room for something queer sports stories need so, so badly: hope.

Robinson, encouraged by loved ones, eventually took the leap.

“I just kept on saying why not, and then before I knew it, it was actually happening,” he tells Star Observer.

Galea shares that he was already deep into writing the film when the unthinkable happened: a former AFL player came out; the first out gay or bi player the league had ever seen in its 130-year history. 

After Mitch Brown came out in August last year, Galea reached out for permission to mention him in the film.

Brown said yes, offering his help by meeting the actors to share his experiences. The former footy player actually even ended up taking a small cameo role.

“A man who has been on the pitch professionally coming out is so powerful,” says Robinson.

Galea says Brown told him he wagers that the first queer male player to be out when he actually plays in the AFL, will come out at the drafting process stage. “I was like ‘oh good, that is exactly how I’ve written it!’,” he laughed.

Tender Boy offers a hopeful possibility: a world where strong support for queer professional athletes, including from the pro leagues themselves, makes being out actually possible. It’s not the current reality – but Galea says LGBTQIA+ audiences deserve to recognise their stories set in kinder, more accepting futures.

“I didn’t want to have another gay film where it just ends badly because they’re gay, you know?” Galea laments.

Both Robinson and Galea say they hope that if any hetero footy fans see the film, that they perhaps they do some reflecting. Robinson wants them to consider if they’ve ever made throwaway comments; things they’ve let slide or laughed at when someone else is being homophobic.

“It’s the environment as a whole which oppresses people coming out.”

Then there’s the excitement of watching alongside MQFF’s mostly queer audience. When asked which scenes they’re excited or nervous about audiences seeing, both have the same answer.

“Definitely the sex scenes! Honestly, I’m nervous for the people who aren’t gay,” grins Galea.

“It’s what I was most nervous [about] within this whole thing,” says Robinson, laughing. But he smashed it out the park – Galea said he’s received strong praise how authentic the intimate moments look – despite being the first sex scenes Robinson had ever filmed.

For queer viewers, Galea hopes the film offers hope, saying it “would be such an honour for us, if [the film] was able to give people a bit more courage.”

More queer goodness at the 2026 Melbourne Queer Film Festival

There’s plenty more queer goodness at MQFF, returning for its 36th edition from November 13–22 under the theme Into the Light.

Opening film Kick follows non-binary runner Nikki Hiltz, touching further on who gets to belong in elite sport. Closing film Big Girls Don’t Cry follows a New Zealand teenager navigating desire and belonging.

Elsewhere, The Dads follows fathers supporting their trans and gender-diverse children amid American hostility, while Hayley Kiyoko’s Girls Like Girls brings first love to the screen.

A room full of our people, watching our stories. What’s better than that?