Pride

I am a big AFLM and AFLW fan. Last week it was Pride round for the AFLW. A number of players across the league posted on social media about why Pride round matters to them, Kate Dempsey from Richmond AFLW was just one of them. What followed was in excess of 400 comments, most of which were overtly homophobic. The AFL were slow to remove the comments and the impact on Kate , her family and other queer AFLW people can only be imagined. The AFL has since apologised to Kate and her family. This is just one example of why we need to keep working to create change. So often I’ve heard people say oh everything’s good ‘for the gays’ now, you’ve got marriage equality. Like that fixed everything! For many of us in the queer community things are improving, but particularly for trans and non-binary young people there is so much work still to be done.

What Kate experienced was workplace bullying, the AFLW is her workplace and the comments, and the slow response in protecting Kate made that workplace unsafe. If you are a queer, trans or non-binary worker in social work or human services you may well have also experienced a lack of safety, a lack of belonging as your authentic self. I am facilitating a queer community of practice starting in March 2025 for queer, trans and non-binary social work and human services practitioners. The link for more info and to contact me can be found at https://www.jenkaighin.com.au/

Happy Pride