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The former Brisbane Lions player and SANFL champion Leigh Ryswyk has become the first past or present male AFL player to come out as gay.
Ryswyk, who played one game for the Lions in 2005, opened up about his sexuality on the GayFL radio program.
He said his closest friends had known he was gay for five years.
“To people who know me, my closest friends, this is not new,” Ryswyk said in an interview with the Melbourne radio station Joy 94.9.
“I’ve been out for five years now. There will be people though, if they do listen to this, it will be the first time they know about this. I’m a very private person, so it’s not all over my social media and things like that, and that’s fine.
“It can be a bit of a shock to some people, they might not know what, but that’s life right? In the end, the people who are nearest and closest to me know, and that’s what’s most important.”
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon sent his best wishes to Ryswyk, and said “good on him” for being prepared to make his personal life public.
“For Leigh to be able to be comfortable sharing his story last night was great,” Dillon said. “What we want to have is an environment within our AFL clubs, our AFL industry where people can be their best, be themselves.”
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AFL Players’ Association president Darcy Moore said the players were working with the AFL to make the game more inclusive.
“We are hearing from men’s and women’s players that we want more investment with the league on making the league more inclusive for everyone, and we hear that from fans as well in the community.”
Ryswyk played one AFL match for Brisbane in 2005 but suffered a quad injury during his debut against Fremantle and was delisted at the end of the season.
“It is great to see Leigh share his story and journey publicly,” Lions CEO, Sam Graham, said. “We want our game to be an inclusive environment for everyone including players, staff, members and fans.
“As a club, we hope this has a positive impact across football and society more broadly.”
Ryswyk follows in the footsteps of the former West Coast player, Mitch Brown who last year became the AFL’s first openly bisexual player, past or present.
“It’s a huge moment for the game as well as for the LGBTQI community,” said the Pride Cup chief executive, Hayley Conway. “But it’s especially important for all those people and players who haven’t been able to see themselves in the game.
“Mitch’s coming out showed how the world could respond to any man coming out in sport, and every time something like this happens the way the community, the AFL and clubs respond sets a new standard.
“We know there is still work to be done, not just around on-field offences, but also people in the comments section saying, ‘Leigh doesn’t matter, no one cares’, but if it didn’t matter, men wouldn’t still be in the closet. Every time someone takes this step we move forward and it opens the door another crack further.”
Ryswyk was born in Victoria before his family moved to the Gold Coast when he was six. He joined the Lions squad as a rookie for the 2004 season.
After leaving the Lions, Ryswyk went on to play 226 matches for North Adelaide in the SANFL and was later inducted into the Queensland Football Hall of Fame.
North Adelaide said they supported Ryswyk coming out publicly as “the first openly gay past or present AFL/SANFL player”.
“We pride ourselves on fostering an inclusive environment where players, staff, members and supporters from all communities feel safe, respected, and free to be themselves,” the club said.
