Mitch Brown has reflected on the public’s response weeks after making history as the first current or former AFL player to publicly come out as bisexual.
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ICYMI, the ex-West Coast Eagles player revealed his sexuality during an interview with The Daily Aus last month, saying he made the announcement to create “safety, comfort and space” for other players within the “hyper-masculine” league to come forward.
Now two weeks on from the landmark announcement — which came at an already tumultuous time for the AFL and conversations of homophobia — Brown has reflected on the “whirlwind” reaction in a recent interview with Triple J.
Brown said he has “no regrets” around making the announcement, but admitted that, since he is bisexual, he carries a certain level of guilt around “hold[ing] this position that I’ve had over the last two weeks”.
“It’s a bit of an extreme sort of way to explain it, but it honestly feels like that,” Brown said of his guilt. “I have a beautiful partner who is a woman, and I can walk down the street and not have that casting eye or that sense of homophobic behaviour.”
“Am I worthy of this and is this my place to be able to hold this position that I’ve had over the last two weeks?” he added.
Brown went on to say that overall, the “whirlwind” response has been “overwhelmingly” positive, despite the “small amount of hate” he received after calling attention to the AFL clubs who did not offer messages of support following his coming out.
Last month, Brown took to social media to call out clubs like Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions which — unlike other clubs — had been slow to share public statements on social media in the wake of the news.
“As soon as I called out those clubs … that’s when I started to get the hate,” Brown told Triple J.
“People who were maybe uncomfortable with me in the first place … they saw an opportunity there to hate on me for another reason, not just my sexuality,” he added.
Despite haters’ comments otherwise, Brown insisted the move to mention some clubs’ silence was not driven by self-promotion, but by the importance of visibility.
“[I had] frustrations around clubs staying silent and not acknowledging an inclusive environment”, he said, “visibility does matter”.
Still, Brown admitted that progress can take time, saying he “would be a hypocrite if I didn’t allow people to take time for [his announcement] to sink in” and admitting that his own coming out journey has “taken years”.
Towards the end of the interview, Brown reiterated his motivation behind the announcement, saying that while the fixation should not be on who “the next player” to come out will be, he hopes to have created a space where players don’t feel alone.
“I know they are out there. For that person, you’re not alone. I’ll stand with you, I’ll walk with you, if that’s what it takes,” Brown said.
“That next player may not even be born yet; they may be just out of primary school or so young that they haven’t even kicked a football yet, but environment that we can help to role model will ensure that they can be themselves from a young age, well before they even get drafted or recruited into the AFL,” he added.
As for his future work with the community, well, don’t be surprised if we see Brown take his rightful place at the Sydney Mardi Gras.
“I’m ready,” Brown said of a potential appearance in the parade.
Lead images: Triple J/ Instagram
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