Field hockey player Gus Johnston speaks out on homophobia in sport

An interview well worth reading from AXN magazine:

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.

Keep reading HERE.

More on the coming out of Gus Johnston

Outsports returns to the coming out story of field hockey player Gus Johnston:

When Gus Johnston posted a video on YouTube talking about being gay in sports on Sept. 13, he became the highest-level male field hockey player in the world to be publicly out. The video featured Johnston talking for 12 minutes about his feelings on the discrimination that kept him in the closet for so many years.

It’s something he’d been thinking about for 13 years. One of the impetuses for producing the video this year was a sports initiative from the Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission. The program, titled “Fair go, sport ,” is designed to promote sexual and gender diversity in field hockey. With an advertising background, Johnston felt the program was a little lacking.

Keep reading HERE.

FGG's Kate Rowe and Michelle Ferris in article from The Age on

Australia's The Age looks at coming out... and not... in sport. It's a great in-depth article that features, among others, some FGG people:

Actors do it. Judges do it. Even political leaders do it. So why don't elite athlete come out of the closet?

Gus Johnston was a champion hockey goalkeeper. A gutsy player who regularly put his body on the line for his team, Johnston represented Victoria for 12 years and was vice-captain of his local club Essendon for seven. While his flame-red hair and natural ability made him a big identity in his sport, he was little known outside hockey circles. Until last month, that is, when he posted an emotional 12-minute video on YouTube in which he outed himself as gay.

In the film, which he called ''The reality of homophobia in sport'', Johnston looks the viewer in the eye as he says: ''My name is Gus Johnston, I'm a writer, art director, filmmaker and a hockey goalkeeper. I'm also a gay man - and that's something I never thought I would say in such a public forum like this.''

[...]
Sport is the last bastion of public life in Australia in which same-sex attraction is kept under wraps. The last closet in which it is safer to stay silent than speak up. Elite Australian athletes who are gay or lesbian mostly play it straight.
[...]
It is harder to learn about the experiences of gay elite sportswomen. Several lesbian athletes were contacted either directly or by third parties for this story. [Gay Games Ambassador] Ferris was the only woman prepared to speak publicly. Other former athletes declined to speak, even anonymously.
[...]

London Royals field hockey

From Jeni Quirke in PinkPaper:

It’s onwards and upwards for the London Royals Hockey Club, as players enter the 2011 season.

The team, which is the UK’s only LGBT Hockey club, are going from strength to strength after they picked up Gold and Bronze awards from a very successful tournament at the Gay Games in Cologne, Germany early this year.

The past few years have seen the club grow significantly from an initial membership of just six men and 12 women to more than 100 members with a regular turnout of around 30 for weekend training sessions.

A spokesperson from the club, commented: “It is a definite step up for the Royals in terms of standard and is providing a real challenge, but the growth of the club has seen the Royals become more competitive and confident and the regular training sessions are paying off.”

Live from Cologne - Field hockey is back in the Gay Games

News update from Games-Cologne.com.

Since Monday the hockey sportsmen and sportswomen are shooting on the artificial turf for the goal and are pleased being part of it. The teams are coming from England, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia. The “Royal Girls” (England), the “Dutch Hockey Divas” and the “Charme on tour” (Germany) are representing the three participating women teams. Five male teams competed, two from England, two from the Netherlands and one from Australia.

Read the rest of the update at Games-Cologne.com.