After 19 consecutive seasons of competitive hockey, champion goalkeeper Gus Johnston knows only too well the pressure facing closeted athletes in the world of professional sports. But that didn't stop him from coming out in the most public way imaginable - through a video on the internet. Now, the former player has hung up his boots to take up a new position - campaigning against homophobia in sport.
Gus Johnston retired from field hockey last year after 19 consecutive seasons as a highly regarded goalkeeper. Week-after-week the fiery-haired champion goalkeeper would put his body on the line for his local Essendon Hockey Club or the Victorian state team as he faced down flying balls and fended off the powerful shots of his opponents. His dedication to the sport was clearly evident for all to see having missed only two games in over a decade playing for his beloved Essendon. By the time he retired in 2010, Johnston had become a leading pillar in the local hockey community, helping mentor players and youth teams as well as being a state selector. For almost all of that time though Johnston felt like some kind of stranger in his chosen sport; a man, literally, hiding behind his goalkeeper’s mask, intent on saving the knowledge of his own sexuality from anyone within the cloistered hockey world.
That, however, all changed very quickly when, in September of this year, the now 32-year-old released a bravely emotional, self-cathartic 12-minute ‘coming out’ video titled ‘The Reality of Homophobia in Sports’, in which he explained his own regret for not speaking out earlier, while also shining a light on the rigid and fixed norms of masculinity, gender and sexuality to be found across many team sporting environments to this day. The video has since been viewed over 40,000 times on YouTube and has led to the likes of AFL coaches, leading sports psychologists and hundreds of everyday people contacting Johnston to offer their support, and share their own stories about the continuing discrimination faced by many LGBTI sportspeople, whether at a grassroots or more elite stage.
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