While many sports have historically had homophobia run deep within them at many levels, Australian rules football has been a particular point of scrutiny by LGBT advocates. The Australian Football League (AFL) is one of the rare fully professional leagues to have no active—or even retired—players to publicly identify as gay or bisexual despite more than a century of elite competition and at least 16,885 players in the VFL/AFL, although multiple players at an amateur level or semi-professional level have come out (specifically, many players in AFL Women's have come out as gay or bisexual).^[1]

Players at non-professional level have come out, including Jason Ball, and he launched a campaign to tackle homophobia in Australian rules football.^[2][3] However, the first player to come out to the public was a man named Matt Hall, who contracted HIV in 1996 and was banned from the Victorian Amateur Football Association due to his diagnosis. Hall came out in 2002 and actively worked to fight the stigma until his sudden death in 2023.^[4]

While no gay or bisexual professional players have come out, former AFL coach and premiership player Danielle Laidley (formerly known as Dean Laidley) was outed without her permission by a police officer in May 2020 for being transgender; the police officer in question was stood down.^[5][6][7][8] The outing occurred after Laidley was arrested and charged with one count of stalking. She did not apply for bail.^[9] She was allegedly found with 0.43 grams of methamphetamine in her bra at the time of her arrest.^[10] A Victoria Police officer distributed photos of Laidley in women's clothing taken while she was in custody. In December, the officer was charged with unauthorised access and disclosure of police information as well as misconduct in public office. Three other officers were accused of the same breach. In November 2020, Laidley was placed into a diversion program and given an "adjourned undertaking with no conviction recorded" on the stalking charge.^[11][12]

Besides members of the LGBT community, controversy has arisen as former players such as Jason Akermanis controversially advised in a 2006 article that gay and bisexual players should keep their sexual orientation secret, which ended his career at Brisbane; he doubled down on this stance in 2023.^[13][14]

In more recent times, the AFL has taken a strong stance against homophobia, including publicly supporting the Yes vote for marriage equality, including temporarily changing its logo to "YES" in support.^[15][16] The survey was ultimately successful in overturning Australia's marriage laws, with more than 61% of respondents voting in the affirmative.

The AFL took a particularly strong stance against homophobic slurs in the 2024 AFL season, handing out significant suspensions to players who have used such language. Gold Coast defender Wil Powell was suspended for five games after making a homophobic slur against a Brisbane player in round eight.^[17][18][19] This came just a month after Port Adelaide's Jeremy Finlayson received a three-game ban for a similar incident against Essendon.^[20] The AFL escalated the penalty for Powell to send a clear message that homophobic language will not be tolerated, with general counsel Stephen Meade stating: "homophobia has no place in our game, nor in society."^[21][19]

Melbourne captain Max Gawn called it "embarrassing to call yourself an AFL player" in 2024 after multiple incidents in the year, supporting the league's tough stance.^[22] The AFL Players' Association, however, criticized what it sees as inconsistent sanctions and called for a review of the processes.^[20] Earlier in the 2024 season, North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson was fined A$20,000 for an alleged homophobic comment towards two St Kilda players.^[17][20] The incidents have highlighted the AFL's efforts to create a welcoming environment for the LGBT community.^[17] Clubs have condemned the language and vowed to provide education to players.^[21][19]

• Homosexuality in association football
• Homosexuality in American football
• Homosexuality in modern sports