In the lead up to the Pride Game on Saturday 13 August, St Kilda Football Club is sharing stories of a few inspiring individuals that support the Round 21 clash.
Captain of the PEGS football team in the VAFA, Sean Towner, spent his adolescent years trying to come to terms with his sexuality while being surrounded by homophobic language on the football field.
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“I think Pride Game is a fantastic step and a fantastic initiative to help young fifteen-year-old Sean Towner not feel so much hatred towards himself and think that he can’t ever bring a partner to a footy club,” Towner said.
With research showing that same-sex attracted Australians have up to 14 times higher rates of suicide attempts than their heterosexual peers1, while gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are three times more likely to experience depression2 it’s too evident that Towner’s feelings of shame are shared among the LGTBI community.
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Towner sees the Pride Game as an opportunity to embrace differences and allow everyone to feel as though they belong at the football.
“Pride to me is not having to apologise or be sorry for who you really are,” Towner said.
“Belonging allows me to bring my fiancé to the footy club without fear of anyone looking both ways.”
2https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/FTFLGBTI.pdf
