Trouble piles on for Jason Akermanis the Aussie Football League player who said gay athletes should stay closeted. First he stuck his foot in his mouth, then Akermanis said that his column had been edited to sound more homophobic (a lie, it turns out). A lot of guys in Ackermanis’ league started calling him out and some of his teammates said that all the press attention from the article effected their playing. And now after telling him to shut up, Akcermanis’ team The Western Bulldogs has demoted him. The only person in Akermanis’ corner? His brother.
Here’s what Jason’s younger brother Rory has to say:
“I know I’m biased, but every time he has an opinion people want to shoot him down. He wasn’t gay bashing. He was just saying the culture is not right to have a gay player come out. In my opinion, if a bloke does come out he would get hounded by opposition supporters. It would be sad, I think… what’s done is done… Whether he lied about the column or not, it doesn’t affect how he plays football. He just wants to get on with playing football … he wants to get his nerve right. I’m hoping they do nothing, just say that he needs a rest. I don’t know why they’d want to put him on suspension for writing an article.”
It’s sweet that Lil’ Akermanis has come out in support of his big bro, but Akermanis’ team had every right to dismiss him if they wanted. Not because he spoke the mind of athletic homophobes everywhere, but because he put himself above his team by doing so. Sports teams have PR people and athletes have agents to prevent these sorts of needless statements from starting. Akermanis didn’t merely acknowledge homophobia in the sports world, he advocated it. (He also warned of all the “other” people who are homophobes, which is a bigot’s most-used, and worst, disguise.) In doing so, he stepped out of his role as an athlete and became a spokesperson on the wrong side of a politically-charged topic.
Hey Jason, how about healing that injured hamstring and playing ball instead?
How about we take this to the next level?
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That’s not to say that Akermanis should have been sacked (albeit temporarily), but it’s ironic that he worried that “the publicity associated with a current player admitting he’s gay… could break the fabric of a club” when the publicity he’s generated as a current player speaking against gays has easily done the same thing.
Geoff M
Queerty fire your editor…..your copy is gettin embarassing.
AlwaysGay
The haterosexual culture isn’t ready for gay men in the locker room and never will be. They will use sex or implied sex like gay men might look at haterosexual males or might rape another man as an excuse to keep locker rooms haterosexual-only. The fact is haterosexual males look at each others’ naked bodies in the locker rooms and many times touch each others’ naked bodies. From what I’ve looked at their have been zero reported instances of male-male rape in Australian rugby by a gay man. You won’t hear any other gay person say this because they are too cowardly to acknowledge haterosexual prejudices.
Tessie Tura
@AlwaysGay: Just what is a haterosexual? One who has sex with hats? I sorta dig boys with baseball caps, does that make me one?
AlwaysGay
A haterosexual is a heterosexual. Haterosexual is a more fitting term since hate is a driving force in many lives regarding sexuality.
nolongerconfused
OHHH you meant something like hate-rosexual! I was so confused! I think the point you are trying to make is valid. The instances of violence against and BY gay men in the Australian Football codes is either not reported or non-existent.
I do not honestly believe that Akermanis is a homophobe.. (or a hate-rosexual). i just think he took to this issue the wrong way. He SHOULD have “came out” in support of his possibly gay team mates and told them that if they came out he would support them… but he didn’t .. his version of supporting them was to tell them to stay hidden.
Everyone knows that there are gay players.. most likely even their team mates know as well.. and I personally do not see the issue one way or the other.. it is after all their choice to come out…
The ThisIsOz campaign has already included several high profile ARL players and I think that now would be the time for all sports players of all codes to join in and stand up for their mates.
Jon
I’m not sure why it’s homophobic to say that gay athletes should stay closeted. Anytime someone says something with the word gay in it and you don’t like their opinion it does not make them homophobic.
jason
Sports is about male bonding. Bonding can only be effective if there is no breach of the code of ethics. This code says that a man can love another man spiritually and physically but not sexually.
By “spiritually and physically”, I mean in a very emotional way that sometimes involves touching of each other’s butts and genitalia. Hugging is common, especially after a few drinks. But it mustn’t go beyond this because that would break the code.
This line in the sand helps to create the sort of tension that stimulates adrenaline release, and hence increases aggression on the field. If they were all into each other sexually, there would be no aggression save the occasional bitch slap.
j
@jason: Lols, what kind of cultofthemasculine stuff is this? You seem to be advocating against gay players because the whole team would fuck each other and turn soft. And you offer little in the way of proof to back up a comment which is a very matter of fact. You’re not a focus on the family spokesperson, are you?
jason
No, I’m not against gay men in sports. I’m all for it. But, if you want to play team sports, you must follow the code of ethics when you are in the sports environment. You must never have sex with your team member nor should you lust after him within that environment.
If you do succumb to it, you’ve broken the rules. You’d be breaching the code of adrenaline, a code which says that adrenaline levels in your bloodstream are elevated when there is a line in the sand that you mustn’t cross.
I’d allow naked spa sessions and naked wrestling within the change room, but it would be to prove the point that you can do these things without getting aroused. Heck, I’d even encourage naked hugging and body intertwining. It would be confirmation of your adherence to the code of ethics. If anyone got aroused, they’d be removed from the team.
alan brickman
He’s a loser…..stop hating all straights just because of one guy…hatersexual sounds stupid and sounds like an embittered gay person really……
nikko
I agree with the term haterosexual because no one has brought greater suffering on gay/bi men than straight men.Period.They are the real hostile trouble makers the world over. Me bitter? You bet.
nikko
JASON, so you believe in the sport code of ethics in that a man cannot love another man sexually only on the team or also off the team? Are you serious,? Male love IS male bonding. Ever hear of the Spartans? Now if you’re saying no sex amongst teammates during showers or work time,understandable. It just sounds like your justifying homophobia that a man cannot love another man sexually, that male bonding is never sexual? Sorry, cannot accept if I’m understanding you correctly.
Lamar
Who cares if breeders aren’t ready to accept gays. Lots of parents aren’t ready to see their daughter marry a black man but that shouldn’t cause her to hide her relationship as if she is ashamed, same applies here.
REBELComx
@nikko: No offense Nikko but the truth is that the people bringing real suffering to gay/bi men is self loathing, closeted gay/bi men. The hypocrites in the churches and in positions of power, denying their true selves at the expense of others like them.
nikko
REBELComx, Iyeah, I’m coming to that awareness more and more. We can be our own worst enemies. Nonethelss, straight males fuel anti-gay beliefs throughout culture, forcing most bi/gay men to hide and turn against themselves and others. The result: everyone suffers. Fuck.
guest
@Jon:
yes it does.
Hugh Knowit
Jon anytime someone tells someone to stay in the closet for whatever reason it certainly DOES make them homophobic
Pucifer
That photo is strangely making me aroused… Which one’s NOT the gay one? LOL