It’s Pride Weekend in Dublin and the welcome that has been extended to the LGBTQ community from sport this year has been a game changer.
In all honesty, sport has never been to the fore in terms of inclusivity of those who march to a different beat in terms of their sexuality. The massive under indexing of openly gay athletes suggests that our community either consciously or subconsciously provides less of a safe space to be different than we might believe, or that there is still a fear of coming out.
There have been brave exceptions. Gareth Thomas in Rugby and referee Nigel Owens have done much to destigmatise the idea of difference through being themselves with talent and humour.
In Ireland as well we have been more forward than most in sport as we have in legislation and society.
Donal Óg Cusack, Lyndsey Peat and Valerie Mulcahy told their personal stories in private to their friends and families and then with courage which they may themselves not even recognise as such but which have inspired many more to live their own life and not what was laid down by decades of social repression and often anti-social violence.
In tomorrow’s Dublin Pride March the GAA will be formally represented for the first time. It is a physical representation of the campaign message that We All Belong that strikes a powerful chord within so many within the association.
They wil be joined as well by the Emerald Warriors Rugby team and those who pulled off one of the partnership coups of the year in the Union Cup uniting Guinness, Bank of Ireland, Vodafone and the IRFU in supporting a tournament that represented so much more than the number of those who took part.
The Union Cup team will discuss the difference that such support made as part of our Sport for Business Sport for Social Good Conference at Ulster University as part of the Open Championship on Thursday morning, July 18th.
Across the country, companies have flown the rainbow flag in solidarity with workers, friends and everyone for whom Pride means so much.
Post boxes from An Post, even a Garda car that drove past me yesterday are adornmed in the rainbow colours.
Last summer the Republic of Ireland football team wore gear that incorporated the Pride colours in the numbers when they played the United States at the Aviva Stadium.
Aviva themselves lit up the stadium that bears their name earlier this month. They also sponsored the Pride Run which took place last Friday in the Phoenix Park.
Sport for Business members Teamwear backed the Irish team that went to The World Gay Games last year. They are one of a large number who have transformed their identity into the rainbow colours ahead of this weekend. It’s not just about badging, you have to back it up with genuine support and that’s exactly what they have done.
The painting of the Guinness Gates was special because it was rare but it was done against a 200-year background of Guinness being one of the people-centred businesses we have, long before it became such a thing.
Pride means so much to those who live the LGBTQ life every day. It started as a protest, it has become a festival of real celebration. Inclusivity is important. It is a responsibility of sport to be to the fore, one we have often shirked in the past but which we are now embracing properly.
Sport has always been about uniting rival tribes, of playing against each other but always as part of a shared experience and coming together at the end to celebrate.
It is a damn good thing that so many sporting bodies have chosen now to be open about difference and to welcome all into the fold.
