LACE UP AND HELP TO GIVE HOMOPHOBIA THE BOOT

Let’s give homophobia the boot!

That’s the message behind the Rainbow Round of Sport which starts today and runs until Monday, April 4.

Australian sportswear company SKINS and ACON’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) workplace inclusion program, Pride in Diversity, are behind the campaign.

Aimed at all major Australian sporting codes, players and fans alike are being urged to show their support and “make the sporting environment an inclusive place for all”.

Leading the charge is Queensland’s favourite sporting son, rugby league superstar Johnathan Thurston, who is encouraging people to pick up a pair of free #RainbowLaces to “help kick homophobia out for good”.

In promotional video clips, he spreads the message: “It’s 2016 and homophobia is still a big problem in sport.

“Help kick out homophobia for good by lacing up with me for this weekend’s rainbow round of sport because the only thing that should matter in sport is how you play on the field.”

ACON vice-president Andrew Purchas, who founded Australia’s first gay and inclusive rugby union club, the Convicts, said the premise underlying the Rainbow Round of Sport is that “everyone should be able to enjoy sport regardless of their sexual identity or preference”.

The #Rainbow Laces campaign coincides with the launch of Australia’s Pride in Sport Index (PSI), designed to provide the means for sports organisations to demonstrate how they are reducing homophobia and transphobia and are making sport more accessible for all.

#RainbowLaces are available for grassroots clubs free of charge at rainbowlaces.net and can be picked-up for free with any footwear purchase at Rebel or Amart stores.

All proceeds from #RainbowLaces will go to Pride in Diversity to help support their ongoing work through the development of the PSI.

CLICK HERE to hear Thurston’s message or watch the video below.

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