I knew I would never be accepted as a gay man and still achieve what I wanted to achieve in the game....I became a master of disguise and could play the straight man down to a tee, sometimes over-compensating by getting into fights or being overly aggressive because I didn’t want the real me to be found out. . . . But when you withdraw into yourself, you start to feel lonely, upset, ashamed. You create this inner world which is dark.” Gareth Thomas, LGBTQ.com
HOW DOES DISCRIMINATION AGAINST LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANS PEOPLE SHOW UP IN VOLLEYBALL? DIRECT AND INDIRECT DISCRIMINATION Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia can be both direct and indirect. Direct discrimination is when a person is treated less well, in comparison with someone else, simply because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. For example, if a player was purposely left out of a team just because she was gay, this would be an example of direct discrimination. Indirect discrimination happens when an apparently neutral specification, criteria or practice disadvantages people on the grounds of their sexual orientation unless the practice can be objectively justified by a legitimate aim. For example, if a men’s team held a ‘Wives and Girlfriends’ party at a club where female partners entered for free, this would indirectly discriminate against any players on the team who had male partners, if they were forced to pay for their partner to enter. LANGUAGE Homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia and transphobia is often expressed in the language people use. Some examples of offensive language could include (alongside national equivalents):
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