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Speaker 1: Good morning, You're on the air with Jason Lauren. Clint's

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Speaker 1: here as well.

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Speaker 2: So momentous day in the AFL yesterday. It was momentous

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Speaker 2: for a few reasons. The first and foremost because Mitch Brown,

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Speaker 2: former West Coast Eagles player, declared that he is bisexual.

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Speaker 2: Now the Australian Rules Football as a competition is the

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Speaker 2: only competition anywhere in the world that a player, either

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Speaker 2: past or present has come out as gay or bisexuals,

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Speaker 2: the only practice in the world. It's it's extraordinary, extraordinary.

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Speaker 1: It angers me that obviously the environment's not comfortable enough

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Speaker 1: for them to.

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Speaker 3: Do because there is definitely you know.

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Speaker 2: As well because it comes hold on the heel of

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Speaker 2: what was a vulgar comment just a week involving Isaac

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Speaker 2: Rankin and I think we said it the time. We

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Speaker 2: hope that that acts as a bit of a line

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Speaker 2: in the sand. Well, Mitch's courage yesterday was on full

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Speaker 2: display when he said this.

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Speaker 4: Played in the AFL for ten years for the West

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Speaker 4: Coast Eagules and I'm a bisexual man. I shared with

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Speaker 4: the boy's mum, my ex wife, Shay, what I was

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Speaker 4: going to do. She sent me a text message says

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Speaker 4: good luck this morning. I'm so proud of you and

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Speaker 4: right behind you all the way. This will make the

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Speaker 4: world a slightly better place for our boys and young

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Speaker 4: men in Australia, hopefully old men too. This is living

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Speaker 4: the values of the kind of man. I want our

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Speaker 4: boys to grow up to be men that care and

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Speaker 4: are proud of who they are.

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Speaker 5: I mean, what a great text, what a great team

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Speaker 5: as well, the two of them must be as a

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Speaker 5: family unit. And having lots of friends who have come out,

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Speaker 5: I've got lots of gay mates.

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Speaker 3: That process of.

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Speaker 5: Talking to your family, I mean, over the years, from

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Speaker 5: when I was in high school my very first friend

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Speaker 5: told me he was gay, to friends who are coming

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Speaker 5: out now that process has changed. It is like a

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Speaker 5: much simpler process for some people and for other people.

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Speaker 5: It's still tremendously difficult.

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Speaker 1: As a out of three young boys, and I don't

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Speaker 1: care what their sexuality will be in the future. I

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Speaker 1: just want them to feel comfortable enough to be themselves.

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Speaker 1: Right and yeah, I and I agree with you, Lauren.

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Speaker 1: We have come so far and I hope that by

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Speaker 1: the time my boys are comfortable enough to decide their sexuality.

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Speaker 2: There is still a stigma, as evidenced in part of

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Speaker 2: the interview Lauren as well.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, Mitch spoke and look, I believe the whole podcast

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Speaker 5: is coming out dropping today, so we've only heard snippets

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Speaker 5: of it. But there was something that he said that

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Speaker 5: is just shocking and it makes you probably.

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Speaker 3: Understand a little.

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Speaker 5: Bit more into why people aren't comfortable coming out while

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Speaker 5: they're playing in the AFL.

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Speaker 3: Have listened to twenty seven when this.

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Speaker 4: Was talked brought up at one time when I was

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Speaker 4: playing around no gay men in the AFL, I remember

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Speaker 4: two people having a conversation around how they would feel

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Speaker 4: having a shower next to a gay man, and one

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Speaker 4: of the players referred to it, I'd rather be in

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Speaker 4: a cage full of lines than have a shower next

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Speaker 4: to a gay man. And I didn't say anything. I

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Speaker 4: remember that feeling so like, it's so strong.

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Speaker 2: Wow, can you imagine that moment being Mitch Brown.

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Speaker 3: Oh, but there would.

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Speaker 2: Be and exactly there would be other people right now

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Speaker 2: feeling that way, heartbroken and isolated, which is just it.

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Speaker 2: I mean, it's a workplace, but you are surrounded by

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Speaker 2: teammates who are meant to be friends as well.

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Speaker 1: That is just good on you can I say good

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Speaker 1: on your fee.

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Speaker 2: Be hard on the man, a lot of cage, a

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Speaker 2: lot of courage.

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Speaker 5: It will also just make such a difference to other people.

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Speaker 5: I think that there probably would have been an extra

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Speaker 5: amount of pressure. People would have felt not wanting to

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Speaker 5: be the first person because it is it's your private life, right,

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Speaker 5: And this is I've had this conversation with friends of

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Speaker 5: mine who have come out, and they're like, why do

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Speaker 5: I have to make an announcement that I'm gay?

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Speaker 3: Why can't I just be gay?

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Speaker 5: Why do I need to make like you didn't have

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Speaker 5: to go to your workplace and say, hey, guys, I agree,

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Speaker 5: I'm straight. And I've had this conversation with friends who

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Speaker 5: are so close to me who have said, I don't

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Speaker 5: understand why I can't just bring it a guy home,

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Speaker 5: like you got to bring a guy home.

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Speaker 3: What is the difference? How do I need to make

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Speaker 3: an announcement.

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Speaker 1: I've had a similar conversation with a lot of gay

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Speaker 1: friends I've got, and there are sort of two camps

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Speaker 1: to it. One is that because I'm in that one,

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Speaker 1: I'm like, I get frustrated that I'll be honest, I

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Speaker 1: get frustrated we're covering this sort of stuff on the show.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, it shouldn't be a big issu. But then

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Speaker 1: on the other side of things they go. But it

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Speaker 1: is such a massive thing for me to tell.

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Speaker 2: People this this happen, do you.

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Speaker 1: Know what I mean?

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Speaker 2: So they.

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Speaker 1: Are proud that they're coming out and they're making an announcement.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, this had to happen at some stage, it seemed inevitable.

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Speaker 2: I'm so glad it has happened, and let's us hope

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Speaker 2: it makes it. It's still going to be a big

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Speaker 2: step for whoever follows Mitch, but it'll be less of

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Speaker 2: a big step that makes it.

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Speaker 5: Because I'm sure Mitch Brown doesn't want to be known

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Speaker 5: as the first AFL player to come out right it

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Speaker 5: wants to get on with his life. And good on

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Speaker 5: him because he, like his ex wife said to him,

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Speaker 5: he's making that path easier for other men and women

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Speaker 5: moving forward.

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Speaker 3: Now. In the AFL W there are many openly gay women.

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Speaker 1: Was it not an issue there?

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Speaker 5: I think that there they're obviously behind the scenes, is

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Speaker 5: an issue within clubs like we've seen this week. But

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Speaker 5: I really since seally hope and I'm sure it will

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Speaker 5: what Mitch Brown has has bravely come out very publicly

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Speaker 5: because there are a lot of ex footballers living privately

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Speaker 5: the lives that they want to homosexual life, which is terrific.

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Speaker 1: I agree with you though there's obviously a cultural problem

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Speaker 1: inside the AFL, and you're looking only a couple of

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Speaker 1: weeks ago. We waited what a week to find out

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Speaker 1: the band on Isaac Wreenkin crazy like it's ridiculous.

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Speaker 2: Well what change? What changes? That is leadership And what

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Speaker 2: Mitch Brown showed yesterday was immense leadership, am, immense courage

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Speaker 2: and immense heart. And we can do this morning is

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Speaker 2: send our love to him and our congratulations.

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Speaker 3: And you've made the path for people moving forward.

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Speaker 2: What a guy.

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Speaker 1: Good on you, MITCHI. It has just gone three to seven.

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Speaker 1: This is number one hundred

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Speaker 3: Lauren, wake up feeling good following them on the socials