Rugby league and sport in Australia has undergone quite a seismic shift in terms of representation in recent years with the NRL declaring ‘45% of players having Pacifica representation and 10% of players identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.’ However, the current representation of LGBTQIA+ in the sport is low to non-existent.
More than two decades ago, a move by one prominent player changed everything for representation of LGBTQIA+ people in Australia. Unfortunately, the progressions were nearly undone by one jersey.
Ian Roberts was one of the game’s toughest players. Skilled and fearless, he played for twelve seasons in topflight professional rugby league across three clubs as well as representing Australia and NSW at representative level. However, there was a private side to this gentle giant, and a secret he struggled with announcing to the world for years.
In 1995, Roberts stunned the rugby league fraternity by revealing he was gay. He made history, becoming the first high-profile Australian sports person and first rugby league player in the world to come out to the public as gay.
It was a decision he grappled with for some-time given the tragic consequences of a similar sportsman in Britain. Roberts revealed to The League Scene podcast he was going to come out earlier than he did following the lead of English soccer player Justin Fashanu, in 1990. However, the treatment of Fashanu by the notorious British tabloids as well as the general public sentiment towards LGBTQIA+ community members forced him to remain silent.
“The prejudices that he [Fashanu] had to face were gripping, the abuse and the slurs because he was black as well were too much for him and he unfortunately committed suicide at just 37 years of age,” Roberts says.
” That had a big impact on my decision to come out and be open about who I was.”
In fact, newspaper gossip columns started speculating on Roberts’ activities and was the subject of on-field abuse. “It came out in the paper that I was at a gay bar which didn’t faze me initially because everyone at Souths knew I was gay. But what did get to me was we played Canterbury the day or so after the column came out and they tried to get under my skin and it nearly got to me,” Roberts says. As a result of this open public speculation, Roberts received a torrent of hate mail including threats to his parents, who stopped attending his games as fans would abuse Roberts’ parents.
The abuse kept following him even when he changed clubs. “It was bad at Souths, but it got much worse at Manly [the abuse],” Roberts says. Fellow forward Mark Carroll agrees with Roberts’ sentiment. “I felt for Ian, he was a trailblazer, and instead of people commending his brave decisions, they [the critics] kept knocking him down and kept the homophobic abuse going even to this day,” he says.
Despite the public dissent towards him and his family at the time, Roberts continued breaking down barriers, eventually moving away from Sydney and signing with North Queensland in 1997 at the height of the Super League war. He was the first openly gay captain of a professional sports team, “It was quite progressive, here was an openly gay man, being made captain of a rugby league club,” Roberts says.
Roberts would retire from the game in 1999 after a series of injuries but continues to be an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community.
“Ian has done so much work for the community since he came out, it should be admired way more than it is,” Carroll says.
Notwithstanding the bravery Roberts took to come out as gay, no other player before or since has come out as gay in the NRL.
Last year, a scandal which directly impacted the rugby league community struck with such a force, Roberts feared for the members of the LGBTQIA+ community. His former club Manly designed a Pride Jersey which would be a brave step for inclusion in rugby league. When the ‘Jersey’ is mentioned, Roberts gets emotional. “It was such a great thing, for the first time I felt the game was giving back to what I did all those years ago. The intentions were so great, “he says.
At the time, Roberts even offered to sit down and talk with seven Manly players who refused to wear the jersey on religious backgrounds. He hoped to explain the consequences of their decision not to wear the Pride Jersey and how it impacted LGBTQIA+ members within the community, regardless of whether they enjoyed rugby league.
An NRL poll conducted by the Sydney Morning Herald showed an overwhelming 82% of NRL club chief executives and chairmen were against a Pride Round after the backlash of the Manly jersey from their playing group which derailed their season. Manly would lose their remaining games and miss the finals.
Roberts maintains his anger at the NRL’s decision to walk around a proposal for a Pride Round. “When will they introduce a Pride Round, I know he [Peter Vlandys] is talking about a Respect Round but what does that achieve… hardly anything,” he says.
“A Pride Round is about saying to people of LGBTQIA+ community that they are welcome within our community.”
This is in stark contrast to other progressive sporting codes in Australia. Including the A-League (Men’s and Women’s soccer ) and AFL both showcase a pride round with little to no problems. Only one player withdrew from matches for religious reason. On the whole, the rounds were considered a success by fans, players, and administrators.
These movements have helped other athletes to safely come out. Adelaide United soccer player Josh Caballo and basketballer Isaac Humphries with Melbourne United were able to openly identify as gay with support from their sporting community. Something which the NRL seriously needs to address. Roberts expresses his disappointment and sadness at the NRL for failing in its duties to be more progressive sporting code.
“We were doing so well, we have a float on the Mardi-Gras and had Macklemore sing Same Love at the Grand Final. That was the pinnacle and it’s gone backwards ever since and they [NRL] have a lot of work to do in this space,” Roberts says.
