Why Pride matters (to me)
I haven't written anything on my blog in a while and I've been meaning to get to it. I have a number of things I want to write about but had been struggling with my mental health of late and having a hard time of getting going with things. That was until the above comment was left on my lacrosse club's post about Pride round merch.
So, with no further ado, it's ranticle time. This is a short one, I'm feeling angry, not verbose.
A few things to clear up before my ranting begins. Firstly, I am a straight white male. Secondly, I am the president of the above mentioned lacrosse club. Thirdly, I fucking hate bigotry. I'm sure there's at least a fourthly thing, but not sure what it is and the above are enough for a start.
We are currently in June 2026, it's Pride month and I'm sitting on my couch watching "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" when I see a notification on one of Brunswick Lacrosse Club's posts. We are about to host our Pride round in association with Pride Cup. This is the second year we have partnered with Pride Cup to host an education night at our club and to run a Pride round. Pride has been a part of our club before that though, however, not for as long as it could, and perhaps should have been. I'm really proud of the steps my childhood (and now adulthood) club has taken in recent years to become a more welcoming place, and tonight when I saw the comment made on our post, it got me thinking.
Pride, for us at Brunswick, is not about trying to recruit new players to bolster our numbers. Pride, at least to me, at our lacrosse club is about letting people know that they are welcome and safe. The Mavericks welcome all. I've never had worries about not being welcome, I was a big and strong kid and being "one of the (straight) boys" from an early age I could have been seen as an asset at any sport club. My gay classmates, my lesbian friends, my bi and queer comrades on the other hand, may not have been made so welcome. I believe sport is for everyone, regardless of who they love. Unfortunately there are still many people who disagree, sport is to them for those they deem suitable.
We need Pride in sport because homophobic slurs are still hurled on fields around the country. We need Pride in sport because people are "othered" and excluded from clubs for who they are, and who they love. I want my lacrosse club to be a place where it doesn't even matter if you can play lacrosse. I want BLC to be a place where people get community, those who want to get on the field for the weekly battle between sporting foes can do so, those who want to socialise on the sidelines can do so, and those who are looking for family can find it. We need Pride at Brunswick Lacrosse Club, because without it, we can't be the club I want us to be.
The comment of how many people "have joined lacrosse clubs around Australia with all this Pride support??????" misses the point. If all Pride did was allow people already in clubs to feel safe, that would be a win. I do know that there are people at my beloved club who have been drawn to us because we are the sort of place that celebrates Pride, that's our win. I don't want people to feel the need to leave any club because they are excluded or made to feel they are less because of who they are. I do however want those same people to know where they have safe spaces. Celebrating Pride is one way our club can walk the talk.
I hate that people feel emboldened enough to make vile comments in public forums like the one above, but for too many people, that is their daily experience. Those vile comments aren't about the abstract concept of a Pride round, but about who they are as people.
Too many people are driven from sporting clubs by homophobia and bigotry.
Too many people are made to feel they are less for who they are because of homophobia and bigotry.
Too many people take their lives every year due to homophobia and bigotry.
Until that all changes, we need more Pride in our communities and sport clubs, and we need bigots like the commenter above to fuck off.
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