“YES”: The AFL Has Made A Big Show Of Support For Marriage Equality
"The AFL is committed to equality & diversity."
Lots of organisations have given an emphatic “yes” to marriage equality in recent weeks, though typically they’ve just typed this in a press release. The AFL, not to be outdone, has just one-upped this by replacing their logo with the word Yes in a particularly on-brand gesture of support.
The new logo was installed on the AFL’s headquarters in Melbourne this morning, and posted to social media with a statement saying “The AFL is committed to equality and diversity, and we support the rights of all Australians to live, work and play free from discrimination.”
Players Ben Brown, Meg Hutchins, Max Gawn, Darcy Vescio and Dyson Heppell, as well as Hawthorn coach Alistair Clarkson gathered at AFL House to take a picture with the new sign as a gesture of support.
New look at @AFL house this morning. #VoteYes #loveislove pic.twitter.com/ihwBn9xW7T
— Nat Edwards (@Nat_Edwards) September 20, 2017
The AFL is committed to equality & diversity, & we support the rights of all Australians to live, work & play free from discrimination. pic.twitter.com/XUoAuEcwzJ
— AFL (@AFL) September 20, 2017
The new logo will also be painted on a set of footballs that will be sent out to clubs this afternoon.
It’s not the first time the AFL has shown its support for the LGBTQI+ community. AFL stars have previously lent their support to marriage equality forums around the country, and members of every AFL team signed a petition calling for same sex marriage on the International Day Against Homophobia And Transphobia earlier this year.
You can see a video of players explaining why they signed that petition here, which handily remains relevant months later because we still don’t have marriage equality.
The AFL aren’t the only sport to get on board with the Yes campaign, with the NRL announcing their support for marriage equality for the first time last week. And while it’s easy to dismiss this kind of support as doing the bare minimum, given that sports have historically been a hotbed of homophobia and a pretty stressful environment for LGBTQI+ people, it’s pretty affirming to see them show up to support a cause like this.
The “Yes” sign will replace the AFL logo until Thursday, so if you want a selfie with it you’ll have to act fast.