{"id":99518,"date":"2025-08-27T11:25:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T11:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/99518\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T11:25:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T11:25:09","slug":"team-perth-calls-on-afl-to-turn-mitch-brown-celebration-into-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/99518\/","title":{"rendered":"Team Perth calls on AFL to turn Mitch Brown celebration into action"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former West Coast Eagle Mitch Brown has been met with an outpouring of support after revealing he is bisexual<\/a>, becoming the first professional men\u2019s AFL player to share that he is a member of the LGBTIQA+ community.<\/p>\n

In a landmark interview with The Daily Aus, <\/a>Brown shared that his sexuality played a big part in his decision to retire in 2016. Brown played 94 games for the West Coast Eagles between 2007 and 2016.<\/p>\n

– Advertisement –\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s announcement is timely, following a slate of incidents in men\u2019s AFL involving players using homophobic slurs and language on the field. <\/p>\n

Just this month, Adelaide Crows star Izak Rankine <\/a>was slapped with a four game ban for hurling a slur towards a Collingwood player. The controversial decision led to outcry from critics and supporters of Rankine alike<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mitch Brown<\/p>\n

Team Perth, Western Australia\u2019s peak body for LGBTQIA+ sport, is urging the AFL to take meaningful action in light of both the apparent culture of homophobia and Brown\u2019s revelation.<\/p>\n

Team Perth Chair Justin Barnes says Perth already has a blueprint to move forward, noting the West Coast Eagles\u2019 partnership with local queer AFL squad Perth Hornets.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery club can replicate that, today,\u201d Barnes told OUTinPerth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m elated for Mitch\u2014and I want to stress that coming out is always the individual\u2019s choice. Visibility should never become pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe men\u2019s game still feels hyper-masculine for many. Culture change isn\u2019t a themed round\u2014it\u2019s year-round education, leadership, and real protections.<\/p>\n

\"\"Team Perth Chair Justin Barnes<\/p>\n

Barnes says the AFL can turn this news into action by partnering with local LGBTQIA+ sporting organisations, which are both numerous and active around the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should never be about just a rainbow pride round. That does not fix internal culture and it is a single cog in the wheel of change\u201d<\/p>\n

AFL release statement on Brown\u2019s announcement<\/p>\n

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon shared a statement responding to Brown\u2019s message on social media soon after the article\u2019s release.<\/p>\n

Dillon congratulated Brown for showing great courage in sharing his story and personal journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an important moment for him, and for our entire game,\u201d Dillon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a step forward, and building on Mitch\u2019s story we hope that others feel encouraged to be their authentic selves and share their own journeys, and that these stories are met with support from teammates, clubs and the wider football community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AFL will continue to partner with our clubs, our Pride and Allies groups and the LGBTQI+ community to drive and celebrate inclusion across both our AFL and AFLW competitions. <\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, our commitment is to keep making football an inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone to thrive \u2014 and that work never stops.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former West Coast Eagle Mitch Brown has been met with an outpouring of support after revealing he is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-99518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}