Actors do it. Judges do it. Even political leaders do it. So why don't elite athlete come out of the closet?
Gus Johnston was a champion hockey goalkeeper. A gutsy player who regularly put his body on the line for his team, Johnston represented Victoria for 12 years and was vice-captain of his local club Essendon for seven. While his flame-red hair and natural ability made him a big identity in his sport, he was little known outside hockey circles. Until last month, that is, when he posted an emotional 12-minute video on YouTube in which he outed himself as gay.
In the film, which he called ''The reality of homophobia in sport'', Johnston looks the viewer in the eye as he says: ''My name is Gus Johnston, I'm a writer, art director, filmmaker and a hockey goalkeeper. I'm also a gay man - and that's something I never thought I would say in such a public forum like this.''
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Sport is the last bastion of public life in Australia in which same-sex attraction is kept under wraps. The last closet in which it is safer to stay silent than speak up. Elite Australian athletes who are gay or lesbian mostly play it straight.
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It is harder to learn about the experiences of gay elite sportswomen. Several lesbian athletes were contacted either directly or by third parties for this story. [Gay Games Ambassador] Ferris was the only woman prepared to speak publicly. Other former athletes declined to speak, even anonymously.
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