In a world that may be close to nuclear war, GFC Mark2, and a global climate catastrophe, I'm not sure that whether a gay or lesbian sports person should 'come out' or not is hardly of great importance.

Why can't gay and lesbian people keep what they do in private, private? Why do feel the need to flaunt it in public, to get right in the faces of a world that is predominately heterosexual?

If I had a sexual fetish for shoes or being whipped or bestiality or sodomy, I wouldn't want to expose it for all to see and neither would most people.

Sometimes, being discrete has its advantages!

http://www.dangerouscreation.com

I wonder if one of the spin-offs from the controversy that has been beaten up in the media will be that insurers will increase premiums and force a tightening of the blood rule which was instituted because of the risk of transmission of various diseases.

The blood rule had been abused by some teams to force opponents off the field as occurred in the scandalous act by Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley smearing blood onto Cameron Ling's guernsey to have Ling sent from the field under the rule. That is why the rule was relaxed in 2002.

Off the field, the act of deliberately contaminating another person with blood is a serious assault, particularly against police officers. In rescue, medical and other occupations where body fluids could be encountered, insurers, unions and staff demand firm safety rules and personal protection.

Insurance premiums are already crippling for juniors clubs and smaller seniors clubs, which do not have the support of pokies revenue.

Casting about for a way of putting some brake on insurance premiums, perhaps regular blood and urine screening tests should be instituted for all players. The blood rule will need to be tightened considerably. Also, any act of deliberately contaminating another player with blood should result in long term suspension.

Dear Cornflower,

What about what footballers do during "scrums"
to each other - especially - as a means of provocation?
The grobing, the insults, the heads up bums,
and so on...
Perhaps the game needs to be looked at in general?

Foxy

No, this is what I am referring to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_rule

Can I ask what any of the previous comments have to do with the substance of the Aker opinion piece?

Dennis

Good question, I was asking the same thing. In response to the Aker opinion piece, the multi-directional attack on Jason Akermanis did seem like everyone had reacted to his comments as though they had just heard out-aloud about something bottled up inside themselves. And whether this reaction was coming from the straight man in support of gays, or the same-sex attracted, or heterosexual males, or any other combination from either sex, the tensions being expressed was to do with them and their feelings about gay men in AFL sport – so Jason copped it from all sides. As the media storm created by Jason Akermanis abates, and the discussion has opened up, it is very revealing to hear what people really think about homophobia in sport.

As for the younger generation and the use of "that's so gay" it does not apparently mean what the next generation and beyond understand it to mean. "That's so gay" applies to anyone and its meaning has morphed into a kind of 'normal' jibe amongst the younger less fearful, less judgmental and bitter. It would be pretty difficult to argue that its origins were not with homophobia, but then the origins of all young people are with us.

Good article, Dennis Hemphill. If OLO is anything to go by, rather than serving to “lessen public bias against homosexuality”, Akermanis' opinion piece has somewhat ironically brought out into the open the extent to which homophobia persists in football, including its fans.

You may be unaware that this topic has been the topic of a lively discussion over in the 'General' section of the OLO forum for some days, in which such homophobia is on display. The discussion is entitled "Homosexuality and Public Life", and is to be found at

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=3665

Read it and weep.

DHempill,

Maybe you don't follow football. It is not so long ago that Jason Akermanis devoted a full column to criticism of drug testing by the AFL:

"Why not make it a rule that every player on a club list must be tested at least once a year? Surely that would be a start to doing things properly.

At least if they blood test everyone, they'll be able to see if there are blood changes within the year. That might suggest if someone is, or was, using something that could be suss and looked at and target-tested later."

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/aker-slams-drug-agency/story-0-1111117309407

There is a whole industry out there pushing for testing at work and in sport. These entrepreneurs make big bucks out of testing and business is good thanks to regular 'shock horror' media stories and an insurance industry with a vested interest in increasing premiums and restricting claims. It is not so much of a jump to demand regular blood screening in sports with any possibility of body contact. The mantra would be that no-one would object if s/he had nothing to worry about.

Jason's comments on homosexuals sensationalised silly scuttlebutt that a purse was offered for the first gay player to 'come out of the closet'. It was really stupid to do the dirty work albeit unintended, of putting pressure on any gay player to disclose himself. Jason was naive and right now he would probably be feeling both used and abused.

It is a common demand from elite athletes that while they accept that their sporting performance and record will be the subject of media reports and stories, their private lives should be respected as private. They are professional players and they would like Aker to show some professionalism too. Aker will have been told that by his Bulldogs team mates and coaches.

The reason why athletes do not discuss their sexuality and sex life is quite obvious, they rightly think it has nothing to do with the public. Of course that doesn't suit some activists or the tabloid media, but so be it.