Nick Newman's brother Mav on 360

[YvonneH]

Good segment with Nick and brother Mav on 360 tonight.
Brave young man to go on T.V (even in this day and age) and admit to being gay.
I don't see why people have a problem with people who are LGBTIQ. They are usually not hurting anybody so what difference does it make.
Maybe in the future there will not be a need for a Pride round as everyone is accepted for who they are and not who we think they should be

[dimelb]

My second son is gay. He moved with me and his mum to Melbourne where he came out to us. Not that we were very surprised!

He has had his share of hostility, but two things in particular helped him through his school years: his love of sport (he was nearly always the fastest kid on the football field), and music. When he finished secondary school he won prizes for sport and music.

A little yarn. We (his parents) were going to be away and would miss the Little Athletics carnival he was going to, so we arranged with one of the other mothers for him to stay overnight. She was busy in the kitchen but could hear the kids urging him to sing something. She became agitated that they would tease him, but needn't have worried. He launched into "Over the Rainbow", which he had previously sung as a solo at a schools concert in Sydney Town Hall. The kids, who were all from a sporting background and fervently into Rugby League, listened in rapt silence, and when he finished one of them said, "Sing some more Simon".

We live in a different world from the one I grew up in, and it is very encouraging to see the level of acceptance for LGBTIQ people. Long may it continue.

A final touch. He is the one who introduced us to Australian Football, taking his mum to the MCG and a week or two later taking me to Windy Hill. For some reason he had become a West Coast fan, so 2005/2006 was good for family harmony. His partner is a Carlton fan, but they have managed to avoid being terse with each other!

[Mel_C]

Unfortunately it's not a surprise that no player in the AFL has come out. I can only imagine the abuse he would cop which is really sad to say.

In 2012 when we played Essendon at Etihad there was a bomber supporter behind me calling out gay slurs to the swans player. We were sitting a couple of rows from the fence so it would have been heard by the players. His son spoke up and told him to stop but he just continued the abuse. I felt for his son and my first thought was what if his son was gay and was hearing his father say these things. So I spoke up and then I started getting abuse from other Essendon supporters about being the AFLs love child blah blah blah which was totally irrelevant to the issue. It was so frustrating [emoji35] .

[Hotpotato]

Thanks for sharing DiMelb ...
Its a cool song, hats off to Simon eh!

Yep, the Nick n Mav show was excellent last night , fab bond there .
"I really don't care what he is , he's my brother."
NN

[KTigers]

Classy bunch aren't they? .... it is one of the unfortunate aspects of footy that there is a section of the crowd that are
just complete @@@@@@@ing dickheads.

Unfortunately it's not a surprise that no player in the AFL has come out. I can only imagine the abuse he would cop which is really sad to say.

In 2012 when we played Essendon at Etihad there was a bomber supporter behind me calling out gay slurs to the swans player. We were sitting a couple of rows from the fence so it would have been heard by the players. His son spoke up and told him to stop but he just continued the abuse. I felt for his son and my first thought was what if his son was gay and was hearing his father say these things. So I spoke up and then I started getting abuse from other Essendon supporters about being the AFLs love child blah blah blah which was totally irrelevant to the issue. It was so frustrating [emoji35] .

[dimelb]

Unfortunately it's not a surprise that no player in the AFL has come out. I can only imagine the abuse he would cop which is really sad to say.

In 2012 when we played Essendon at Etihad there was a bomber supporter behind me calling out gay slurs to the swans player. We were sitting a couple of rows from the fence so it would have been heard by the players. His son spoke up and told him to stop but he just continued the abuse. I felt for his son and my first thought was what if his son was gay and was hearing his father say these things. So I spoke up and then I started getting abuse from other Essendon supporters about being the AFLs love child blah blah blah which was totally irrelevant to the issue. It was so frustrating [emoji35] .

The same thing happened when my son and one of his mates were at the MCG. An adult and some kids in the row behind them were carrying on until the two of them - both around 185 cm, one athletic and one burly, stood up and faced them. The burly one said,"Us poofters are getting sick and tired of this crap so cut it out." (or words to that effect) It stopped.

[Boddo]

Unfortunately it's not a surprise that no player in the AFL has come out. I can only imagine the abuse he would cop which is really sad to say.

In 2012 when we played Essendon at Etihad there was a bomber supporter behind me calling out gay slurs to the swans player. We were sitting a couple of rows from the fence so it would have been heard by the players. His son spoke up and told him to stop but he just continued the abuse. I felt for his son and my first thought was what if his son was gay and was hearing his father say these things. So I spoke up and then I started getting abuse from other Essendon supporters about being the AFLs love child blah blah blah which was totally irrelevant to the issue. It was so frustrating [emoji35] .

Was you really surprised? this is the country where our politicians use gay marriage as a political football.

[Meg]

The burly one said,"Us poofters are getting sick and tired of this crap so cut it out." (or words to that effect) It stopped.

[emoji122][emoji23][emoji123][emoji304]

[Mug Punter]

Unfortunately it's not a surprise that no player in the AFL has come out. I can only imagine the abuse he would cop which is really sad to say.

In 2012 when we played Essendon at Etihad there was a bomber supporter behind me calling out gay slurs to the swans player. We were sitting a couple of rows from the fence so it would have been heard by the players. His son spoke up and told him to stop but he just continued the abuse. I felt for his son and my first thought was what if his son was gay and was hearing his father say these things. So I spoke up and then I started getting abuse from other Essendon supporters about being the AFLs love child blah blah blah which was totally irrelevant to the issue. It was so frustrating [emoji35] .

It's not just an Australian problem, it's pretty much worldwide. The instances of gay men coming out in professional sport is extremely rare (cue some imbecile coming out with the "uncomfortable in the locker room" argument) - I think Justin Fashanu in the UK and Michael Sam in the NFL are the only instances I can think of. Sure there have been a few divers (of the aquatic variety) but it is a sad statement. Women's sport does seem a lot more enlightened and whilst I think the media dined out on it a bit excessively the acceptance of openly gay women in the AFLW was just brilliant.

I wonder if we've changed much as a society at all or if I've just changed personally. As a young man I was quite intolerant of gay people and I'm not proud of it but I think I've become a lot more so in as I've grown older. Whether that is due to changing times or me just growing up and becoming more tolerant I'm not sure.

I won't name names, and I am loath to mention this as I don't want to turn it into a guessing comp, but I have it on excellent authority that a rising star of the game at a VERY prominent Melbourne club is openly gay, and that once he is established as a senior AFL footballer he intends to come out. Whether he actually does is his business, and really why should he have to, but if he does then I will be in absolute awe of his courage.

[Boddo]

It's not just an Australian problem, it's pretty much worldwide. The instances of gay men coming out in professional sport is extremely rare (cue some imbecile coming out with the "uncomfortable in the locker room" argument) - I think Justin Fashanu in the UK and Michael Sam in the NFL are the only instances I can think of. Sure there have been a few divers (of the aquatic variety) but it is a sad statement. Women's sport does seem a lot more enlightened and whilst I think the media dined out on it a bit excessively the acceptance of openly gay women in the AFLW was just brilliant.

I wonder if we've changed much as a society at all or if I've just changed personally. As a young man I was quite intolerant of gay people and I'm not proud of it but I think I've become a lot more so in as I've grown older. Whether that is due to changing times or me just growing up and becoming more tolerant I'm not sure.

I won't name names, and I am loath to mention this as I don't want to turn it into a guessing comp, but I have it on excellent authority that a rising star of the game at a VERY prominent Melbourne club is openly gay, and that once he is established as a senior AFL footballer he intends to come out. Whether he actually does is his business, and really why should he have to, but if he does then I will be in absolute awe of his courage.

Honestly MG n no offence I couldn't care less who is gay or not when it comes to the footy. I watch n enjoy it for the skills, thrills, excitement n disappointment. Couldn't care less if a player is gay, straight, bi or enjoys the company of ladyboys in Thailand. I had an older player who played at the highest level tell me Ian Stewart liked to dress up in ladies cloths n my reaction was "who gives a fu..k". like I said m8 please don't take offence but I'm over the "who is gay in the afl" drama show

[Mug Punter]

Honestly MG n no offence I couldn't care less who is gay or not when it comes to the footy. I watch n enjoy it for the skills, thrills, excitement n disappointment. Couldn't care less if a player is gay, straight, bi or enjoys the company of ladyboys in Thailand. I had an older player who played at the highest level tell me Ian Stewart liked to dress up in ladies cloths n my reaction was "who gives a fu..k". like I said m8 please don't take offence but I'm over the "who is gay in the afl" drama show

No offence taken.

I personally couldn't care less about players' sexual persuasion but I think if we are talking acceptance then people shouldn't have to hide their sexuality and that includes players. And it filters down to members of the Gay community being able to attend games without having to hear homophobic slurs too.

I think any player who came out, and why shouldn't someone be open about their sexuality when it comes to their partner etc, would be subject to the same accusations of grandstanding that Goodesy had with calling out a lack of racial acceptance.

[0918330512]

It's not just an Australian problem, it's pretty muchworldwide. The instances of gay men coming out in professional sport is extremely rare (cue some imbecile coming out with the "uncomfortable in the locker room" argument) - I think Justin Fashanu in the UK and Michael Sam in the NFL are the only instances I can think of. Sure there have been a few divers (of the aquatic variety) but it is a sad statement. Women's sport does seem a lot more enlightened and whilst I think the media dined out on it a bit excessively the acceptance of openly gay women in the AFLW was just brilliant.

Ian Thorpe.

But honestly. Who really cares? If it's a guy in a Red & White jumper, I couldn't care less about his preferences, his ethnicity, his religion, who he votes for, what he chooses to wear after the match, what he eats (insert anything that could be subjected to bullying & abuse) - so long as he doesn't break any laws. As long as he's in our best 22 we need him (& if he's outside the best 22, as long as he's putting in 100% every time he plays & trains, he's pushing our best 22 to be better).

If the guy is wearing any opposition jumper, I still don't care as long as we win.

And if we don't win, well I really still don't care about preferences in any way as I'd hope it's beneath me to cast aspersions.

[Boddo]

No offence taken.

I personally couldn't care less about players' sexual persuasion but I think if we are talking acceptance then people shouldn't have to hide their sexuality and that includes players. And it filters down to members of the Gay community being able to attend games without having to hear homophobic slurs too.

I think any player who came out, and why shouldn't someone be open about their sexuality when it comes to their partner etc, would be subject to the same accusations of grandstanding that Goodesy had with calling out a lack of racial acceptance.

Personally I'd rather the gay men of the afl get together n come out as one. There is roughly 800 players in the game n figures I just looked at are that in the community there is a conservative figure of 5% gay people so you get 40 players standing together n you'll raise awareness pretty damn quick. Then it's not some sideshow that some of the media will make it with one person. Then you'll have a lot of people take notice. Personally that's how I think the afl should have tackled the Goodes saga. The players eventually did but the horse had bolted, to little to late n now a great person could be lost to the game.

[moocher]

This all makes Ian Roberts the NRL player who came out in the mid nineties all the more courageous. He was an awesome player tougher than tough and came up through the South Sydney juniors, a system not noted for acceptance of anything that could be construed as effeminate. He copped plenty for doing so but he was such an outstanding player and so physically dominant that he ended up being just broadly admired. He is still revered but the NRL crowd for his actions.

[S.S. Bleeder]

Was you really surprised? this is the country where our politicians use gay marriage as a political football.

Frankly I think only an extreme minority care about whether someone is gay or not these days. Even in my younger days I didn't really care, infact, I always had the belief that the more gay men the better because that meant more single women ????.

To this day I still have no problem with homosexuality. The issue I have, and many people have, is with how PC BS in general is constantly shoved down our throats and moreso how those who disagree with it are treated by the hypocritically intolerant PC crowd (that includes the AFL). Just look at how Margaret Court was treated. The gay lobby were the worst offenders in that situation.