- Mitch Brown opens up about his historic announcement
Mitch Brown says he has an odd feeling of guilt after creating history two weeks ago by becoming the first AFL player, past or present, to come out as bisexual.
The 36-year-old former West Coast player made the landmark announcement with the simple but historic words, ‘I played in the AFL for 10 years for the West Coast Eagles and I’m a bisexual man.’
The move has been widely praised in the footy world and Brown says he doesn’t have any regrets about his decision – but he does feel pangs of guilt.
‘It’s a bit of an extreme sort of way to explain it, but it honestly feels like that,’ Brown told Triple J’s Hack.
‘I have a beautiful partner who is a woman, and I can walk down the street and not have that casting eye or that sense of homophobic behaviour.
‘Am I worthy of this and is this my place to be able to hold this position that I’ve had over the last two weeks?’
Mitch Brown (pictured) revealed he has feelings of guilt as he asks himself, ‘Am I worthy of this?’ in the wake of his historic revelation
Brown is the first AFL/VFL player in the almost 130-year history of the league to come out as bisexual, with his decision winning praise across the footy world
A number of AFL clubs were quick to pledge messages of support on social media following Brown’s announcement, but a few were initially silent – and it wasn’t missed by the former footballer.
Brown publicly called them out and copped ‘a small amount of hate’ in return.
‘As soon as I called out those clubs … that’s when I started to get the hate,’ he said.
‘People who were maybe uncomfortable with me in the first place … they saw an opportunity there to hate on me for another reason, not just my sexuality.
‘(I had) frustrations around clubs staying silent and not acknowledging an inclusive environment. Visibility does matter.’
Brown also accepted that his announcement didn’t make everyone in the footy world feel comfortable.
‘Is it a fear of being associated with a queer person or a bisexual man?’ he wondered.
‘Or is it a fear of people thinking that you are gay or bisexual yourself?’
Brown said he got a ‘small amount of hate’ after calling out several footy clubs
Brown is pictured playing for the West Coast Eagles in 2013. He racked up 96 games for the club in his 10-year career
Brown’s girlfriend Louisa Keck (pictured together) has opened up about why he decided to go public about his sexuality
‘It is fear … of what that might mean for your community that you’re selling videos to or marketing a football shoe to.’
Brown added: ‘I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t allow people to take time for this to sink in.
‘For me, to connect with my own identity and sense of self, it’s taken years.’
Brown’s partner, Louisa Keck, explained this week why the couple decided to go public with the announcement about Brown’s sexuality.
‘We were frustrated at the AFL – at the hyper-masculine cultures so many of us group up in or around – that told men they could only look or think or love a certain way,’ she wrote on her Substack.
‘We hated the homophobia that infiltrates the sport, like we hated the racism and misogyny and violence that comes with it too. And we hated that our kids would grow up in that, if they wanted to play sport too.
‘We saw that Mitch had an opportunity – to tell an insider’s perspective, someone within the system who wrestled and fought to hide who he was, who knew the way that culture reinforced itself by rejecting even the slightest difference.
‘We thought telling that story might help shift the conversation.’
