Footy star explains why the AFL is finally ready for its first openly gay player – years after every other major code made the leap
Footy cult hero Zach Tuohy has declared it won’t be long until an AFL player feels comfortable enough to come out publicly as gay.
Tuohy, who retired last season after 288 career games with Carlton and then Geelong – is adamant current day stars wouldn’t be ostracised.
‘I can only say that right now in the game or the game that I left….it feels like an extremely safe place for somebody to come out,’ Tuohy told camp mates when appearing on I’m a Celebrity….Get Me Out of Here!
‘Certainly at either of the clubs I’ve played for…..teammates would protect them at all costs and tell them they are proud of them and love them.
‘So it’ll come soon enough. And whenever it does come for that player, they [teammates] will have his back.’
Tuohy, an Irish import who won a premiership with the Cats in 2022, added players shouldn’t feel their sexuality would derail the focus of the playing group.
Footy cult hero Zach Tuohy (pictured with wife Rebecca) has declared it won’t be long until an AFL player feels comfortable enough to come out as gay
Tuohy, who retired last season after 288 career games with Carlton and then Geelong – is adamant current day stars wouldn’t be ostracised
Adelaide United footballer Josh Cavallo came out in 2021, following the lead of rugby league hard man Ian Roberts in 1995
‘It [acceptance] is shifting and changing,’ Tuohy said.
The AFL remains one of the only professional sporting leagues in the world to have no active or even retired stars to publicly identify as gay or bisexual.
NRL enforcer Ian Roberts confirmed he was gay in 1995 – and Adelaide United footballer Josh Cavallo did likewise in 2021.
And in rugby, former Wallabies prop Dan Palmer publicly shared his story in 2020.
In contrast, Port Adelaide forward Jeremy Finlayson was suspended for three matches last April after calling an Essendon player a f***** during their Gather Round AFL clash.
Previously, footy legend Brendan Fevola stated the AFL wouldn’t be accepting enough of gay footballers in his eyes.
‘I would have played with someone who was gay, probably,’ Fevola said on the Fifi, Fev and Nick for Breakfast radio show last year.
‘It doesn’t bother me, each to their own…..but you have to wonder why no footballer in our code has ever come forward to say they are gay.
‘It’s so sad.’
Fevola’s view followed TikTok identity Scott O’Halloran opening up about his previous long-term relationship with an AFL star.
O’Halloran explained the pair dated for ‘three to four years when they were both in the closet’ but their relationship ended because of ‘toxicity and homophobia.’
