Fighting homophobia in sport

Although still five months away, preparations for the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) are already underway in Melbourne.
A number of community groups have already come together at a recent forum to discuss activities for the event which proved a major success on the GLBTI calendar this year.
Anti-Violence Project convenor and forum host Greg Adkins told Southern Star he was pleased so far with expressions of interest from around 45 community and government organisations.
“We’ve had a really successful scoping meeting,” Adkins said.
“We’ve got a range of concepts and ideas about how people can activate at an individual level in the workplace, at schools, across different networks in the community to stop homophobia, bridging gay and straight.”
Victoria University researcher Dr Caroline Symons, gay rights advocate Rob Mitchell, AFL Players’ Association representative Pippa Grange, ALSO president Jason Rostant and Victoria Police representatives attended the meeting.
As IDAHO’s 2010 theme is ‘Sports World’, Adkins has urged other groups to get involved in IDAHO to help stamp out homophobia in sports fields across the country.
“Whether it’s recreational sport, whether it’s organised AFL or team sports or individual pursuits, sport and recreation are a huge part of people’s lives at every age,” Adkins said.
“It’s a great vehicle to get the discussion out there of how to tackle homophobia in sport.”
Last year Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland and Victorian Governor Professor David de Kretser spoke out against homophobia on IDAHO.
IDAHO is planned for Monday May 17.
info: To get involved with IDAHO, contact [email protected]