Fearless Firsts: Australian “No to Homophobia” Campaign Aims to Change The Workplace

The ALSO Foundation, a Victoria, Australia-based LGBTQ rights and visibility activism organization, launched its high-profile anti-homophobia campaign last year, meeting with continued acclaim and supportive media coverage.

Entitled “No to Homophobia,” the campaign raises consciousness and encourages role models to liaise with the community to teach acceptance and inclusiveness to the community at large.

Jason Ball, a prominent out gay Aussie footballer, is one of the foundation’s many in-community campaign leaders who’s teaching AFL players to stand in their truth, and requesting that the AFL ALSO’s  anti-homophobia ads during footy (their first campaign was successful and the advertising  aired on national television during the AFL preliminary finals).

According to the ALSO Twitter page, The ALSO Foundation is “Australia’s first public campaign targeting #homophobia, #biphobia, #transphobia and LGBTIQ harassment.” In its video and television ads (http://www.youtube.com/user/NoToHomophobia), the foundation illustrates common scenarios where social and workplace harassment might go unreported.

Former ALSO CEO Crusader Hills told the Australian press, “There’s never been a television commercial about homophobia, let along around transphobia and biphobia.”

The short, impactful ad spots deal with thoughtless—and illegal—comments made in workplace or intersocial environments, spotlighting bullying or ignorant remarks and gestures. (For example: male workers say something to a lesbian about her personal life after she asks them a simple work-related question).

Victoria, Australia’s anti-bullying legislation does provide certain protections, and the public relations and community outreach teams for The ALSO Foundation aim to ensure  the public is made fully aware of their rights under the law.

Topics covered in the PSA series include homophobic/trans-phobic/bi-phobic harassment in sports and at work, sexually-based harassment, and gender-based harassment, as well as the legal steps to take, such as  filing reports with local authorities.

Anna Brown from the No to Homophobia campaign told The Age Online:

“This is a community-driven grassroots campaign that really aims to raise awareness of the harm caused by homophobic harassment, and the fact that it’s directly linked to anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide. The consequences of this harassment can last a lifetime. We’re really encouraging the community to understand that we all have a responsibility to stand up to homophobic harassment wherever it occurs, and even if we’re not the targets ourselves. So if you witness harassment and do nothing, you’re condoning it or letting it continue unchallenged.”

The commercials ask viewers to take action “No matter how subtle” the harassment may be.

Anna Brown continued, “We have a comprehensive online resource…it provides people with the resources they need to get informed, find support, and take action to put a stop to homophobia. We’d encourage everyone to go there and find out more about what they can do to respond to homophobia personally. But also to spread the word amongst their friends, colleague, neighbors and people to really raise awareness and tackle homophobia as a community.”

For more information, please visit http://www.notohomophobia.com.au.

If you witness or experience harassment or bullying in the workplace, do you know what your options are or what the next steps to take might be?

Straight Allies Spotlight: Why We Love Chris Kluwe

“Society’s trending towards more equality, and you see that in the locker room.”

– Chris Kluwe (to Larry King, on “Larry King Now” broadcast)

 

Oh, Chris: how do we love thee? Let us count the ways.

First off, few people can bring themselves to hate him.

As the Oakland Raiders’ American NFL football punter, Chris Kluwe comes off as a fresh-faced, cheery, potty-mouthed and an unabashedly proud “gamer geek.” Kluwe’s spoken up—loudly—about everything from NFL labor disputes to honesty in the media. Now, he’s championing gay rights and marriage equality—and it’s not his first time rocking the mic for LGBTQ inclusivity.

The UCLA alum combines dashing good looks and dorky gamer references (he owns a fantasy gaming store for goodness’ sake), and let’s just say his wife Isabel isn’t the only one who finds him easy on the eyes.

Hm…male model? Athletic cover boy? What? Okay, losing track of the numbers here.

Still, there are so many reasons to adore him.

As articulate as he is awkward, Chris recently appeared on “Larry King Now”  to promote his  book, “Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies: On Myths, Morons, Free Speech, Football and Assorted Absurdities.”

On the show, he briefly mentioned his personal protest of the Minnesota Marriage Amendment and his ever-expanding record of LGBT advocacy, which started hitting its stride last year.

Sharing a viewpoint with Larry King that’s rarely been shared by celebs publicly, Chris went on to express a bittersweet regret about the Prop 8 decision, saying  we could have pressed even harder to get more mileage from the opportunity to make permanent changes.

“I liked the DOMA decision,” said Kluwe, “Because obviously it extended federal benefits to married couples. Not a big fan of the Prop 8 decision, because while it allowed gays to be married in California as soon as they vacate the stay, the problem is, the Supreme Court had a chance to extend those rights across the entire country…whereas they could’ve made a statement.”

“They have a precedent,” he continued. “They have Loving v. Virginia—that says

marriage is a human right. They could’ve extended that out to say, ‘Same sex marriage, that is a human right, and you can’t discriminate against that.’”

Trying to keep realistic, he tied things up by saying, “So now we’ve just got to go to all the other states that—right now—gay marriage is illegal in, and get that passed.”

Earlier this month, in what could have been a media disaster, Kluwe shared a stinging truth (citing ex-New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez’s murder charges) in the following exchange with Conan O’Brien on the “Conan” show:

“Now what about the NFL? Where’s the NFL in all of this?” Conan O’Brien asked.

“They pretty much just left me alone,” Kluwe answered, “As long as you’re not out shooting people…”

Here’s the deal: straight allies often put their foot in their mouths, no matter how good their intentions may be. Chris Kluwe’s using his “big-mouthed” persona to our advantage. You just can’t hate on somebody for that.

Chris Kluwe loves World of Warcraft, loves the game of football, loves to raise consciousness and awareness, and is all about a message of transparency, fairness and equality.

In his “Larry King Now” appearance and his Out of Bounds blog, Kluwe rants on with this through line: if we are not honest with ourselves and protecting our own, our civilization is doomed. He simply won’t back down from the idea, and his new book likely puts that sentiment on full blast.

Well-played Chris Kluwe—and play on.

What’s your take on Chris’ mouthy antics? Do you think he’s trying to co-opt Gay Rights to get attention? Does that matter, either way? Wait…you’re too busy looking at his “Out” magazine cover spread, aren’t you?

Don’t leave us hanging, y’all—what’s the T? Let us know what’s on your mind, and you can holler at your boy Chris Kluwe @ChrisWarcraft on Twitter.

LGBT-Empowered: Shaun T Partners Up With Athlete Ally

‘Haters Cannot Touch My Shine:’ From Rockin’ Body to #Shaunspiration and Beyond

When we last checked in with Shaun T, we found him out, proud, and happily married, emphasizing equality by weaving positive social shares in with his personal life and daily goings on, on all fronts.  They say that “slow and steady wins the race,” even when you’ve created mind-numbingly hardcore workouts.

In the wake of his heartfelt story of love, celebrity fitness trainer Shaun T. continues to inspire and capture the imaginations of his fan base with his latest venture: signing up to be Athlete Ally’s newest celebrity ambassador.

Forging a unified front with celebratory tweets sent on July 11, Shaun T and Athlete Ally shared a graphic of a ripped Shaun T striking a workout pose.  With inimitable positivity in tow it reads, “Inclusion is essential in sports.  It can never be secondary.”

In the organization’s own words, “Athlete Ally is a nonprofit that empowers athletes to be role models and challenge homophobia and transphobia in sports.”

Founded in January 2011 by self-defined “straight ally” Executive Director Hudson Taylor (currently a competitive wrestler and coach at Columbia University), Athlete Ally is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization emulating the “gay-straight alliance” model.  The nonprofit brand emphasizes inclusivity and learning opportunities.  It has co-led educational awareness campaigns with athletes such as Olympic wrestler Ellis Coleman, NBA star Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets), WNBA Player Kristi Toliver (Los Angeles Sparks) and more, while promoting Public Service Announcement multimedia awareness drives to honor sportsmen like Jason Collins.

Co-launched alongside their social media campaigns, Athlete Ally’s press release, also published on July 11, further explores the value Shaun T brings to the table.  In their release, Hudson Taylor continued, “It is a true honor to have Shaun T join the Athlete Ally Movement.  He is a catalyst for the inclusion and positive change that we are continuing to see in the venue of sports.  Another vocal, recognizable fitness and athletic personality on our team will undoubtedly help spread our message.”

While Athlete Ally also works closely with the National Basketball Players Association, the NCAA and the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center among many other prominent alliances, Shaun T continues to exert influence in the fitness world.

As one of Beachbody’s most prominent fitness coaches, he just launched his official Fly Fitness Wear line and released his FOCUS T25 program which continues to lead Beachbody to profits of $250-500 million yearly.

Shaun T has worked out with everyone from Dr. Oz, to Ellen to Tyra Banks and regularly does in-person meet and greets and worldwide in outreach for his Beachbody-trained coaches and fans.

In the press release mentioned above, Shaun T enthused, “The joy of feeling free to be oneself in all aspects of life is not something that can endure if there is an underlying stressor. The ability of an athlete to step into their arena and feel free to be 100% focused on competing in their sport is the catalyst which separates the elite from the dedicated.  This is essential to an athlete’s success—it cannot be secondary.”

Learn more about Athlete Ally at www.athleteally.org, and Shaun T’s official homepage can be found at http://shauntfitness.com.