{"id":98794,"date":"2025-08-27T04:19:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T04:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/98794\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T04:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T04:19:10","slug":"mitch-brown-receives-support-from-inside-and-outside-afl-after-coming-out-as-bisexual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/98794\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitch Brown receives support from inside and outside AFL after coming out as bisexual"},"content":{"rendered":"

With one Instagram post, the entire landscape of the AFL changed.<\/p>\n

Mitch Brown’s interview with the Daily Aus<\/a>, in which he became the first openly bisexual current or former men’s AFL player in history, came as the sport has been reckoning with a slew of homophobic incidents across the league.<\/p>\n

Brown’s articulate announcement<\/a> came less than a week after Izak Rankine was suspended for an anti-gay slur during a game \u2014 the sixth such publicised incident in the past year-and-a-half.<\/p>\n

Mitch Brown becomes AFL’s first openly bisexual player<\/a><\/p>\n

Former AFL player Mitch Brown creates history by becoming the first person in the league’s 129-year history to reveal he is bisexual.<\/p>\n

Having retired in 2016, Brown spoke about the “countless” homophobic insults sent his way over 10 seasons with the West Coast Eagles, acknowledging it would have been harder to come out during his playing career.<\/p>\n

But now, with “amazing support around” him, Brown confidently made history, sparking a rush of support from around the league.<\/p>\n

Brown spoke of the support from his current partner, Lou.<\/p>\n

“She goes, ‘Hey Mitch, I’m so bloody proud of you,'” he told the Daily Aus.<\/p>\n

“This is my partner, who’s a woman, holding my hand as we are walking to share my experience about being a bisexual man.”<\/p>\n

Ex-wife and former Collingwood Super Netball player Shae Bolton-Brown also said she was proud of him.<\/p>\n

\"Mitch<\/p>\n

Shae Bolton-Brown (pictured with Brown in 2018) said she and their two sons were proud. (Getty Images: Scott Barbour\/File)<\/p>\n

“Our boys will be proud,” she wrote on Instagram, referring to their two sons.<\/p>\n

“I am.”<\/p>\n

The GWS Giants put any on-field rivalries aside and were quick to show their love.<\/p>\n

Loading Instagram content<\/p>\n

On their post, Pride Football Australia commented: “This is really excellent, GWS. Hopefully other clubs follow your lead.”<\/p>\n

The Western Bulldogs commented on the Daily Aus Instagram post: “This is great.”<\/p>\n

And Carlton’s official Pride supporter group said the announcement “is going to mean so much to so many”.<\/p>\n

“History has been made today,” the group posted on Instagram.<\/p>\n

“An incredible show of courage and vulnerability. We’re with you Mitch.”<\/p>\n

Outside the league, NBL player Isaac Humphries said the announcement marked “big steps forward”.<\/p>\n

Humphries, who now plays for the Adelaide 36ers, came out publicly in 2022 in an emotional speech to his teammates at Melbourne United.<\/p>\n

United’s official account was among those expressing support for Brown on social media.<\/p>\n

More proclamations came from across the sporting spectrum, with former AFLW star Kate McCarthy and tennis legend Dylan Alcott reaching out.<\/p>\n