Former AFL player becomes first to come out as gay

A former Aussie Rules player has come out as gay, becoming the first man in the sport to do so.

Leigh Ryswyk played one match for the Brisbane Lions in 2005 in the Australian Football League (AFL) before he was delisted due to injuries. He went on to play more than 220 games for North Adelaide in the South Australian league.

Ryswyk shared the news in a radio interview on Wednesday, saying he had been openly gay among his friends for five years and when he told his parents, they were supportive.

It comes seven months after Mitch Brown – who played for the West Coast Eagles between 2007 and 2016 – came out as bisexual, the first time an AFL player has done so in the sport’s 129-year history.

Prior to Brown’s news, the AFL had been the only major professional men’s sport globally to never have had an openly gay or bisexual player, even after retirement.

Asked how the AFL could support current players who might want to come out, Ryswyk was optimistic.

“I think the AFL, and the community, will wrap their arms around that player,” the 41-year-old said on Melbourne radio station Joy 94.9’s GayFL programme.

“I think the community itself, obviously the queer community, the fan base, I think in the whole they will celebrate that when the time comes.”

Ryswyk said it took him about three years to work up the courage to tell his parents.

“When you come out to your family it’s always a massive experience, there’s a lot of things going on in your head,” he said.

“I had the opportunity to sit down with mum and talk to her about it, and let her know, which was massive. She obviously was crying, I was crying, and she goes ‘I still love you’, so for me, that was a wow moment.”

His dad was also supportive.

“I really didn’t know what to expect, but he was like, ‘I love you, it doesn’t matter, as long as you’re happy I’m happy for you’, that blew me away to be honest.”

He said his close circle of friends know about his sexuality but for many others, it would be the first time they knew.

“I’m a very private person, so it’s not all over my social media, and things like that, and that’s fine.”

Originally from Victoria, Ryswyk moved to Queensland to join the Lions and played a match against Fremantle in Perth. After a successful career with North Adelaide in the state’s league, he was inducted into the AFL Queensland Hall of Fame.

In August last year, Brown came out as bisexual, saying that the weight of hiding his sexuality played a “huge” part in his decision to retire.

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