Despite the social progress that the legislation of same-sex marriage in 2017 has helped steer, a 2024 study has found almost no change to rates of homophobia in sport.

“You would have comments when you’re in the dressing room like: ‘how bad would it be if there was a gay person in the team here while we’re all getting changed?'” Tim said.

“I felt like that was a safer environment for me … as opposed to being in that whole masculine setting with outdoor soccer.”

Some boys use homophobia to feel like they fit in

He said young men often engage in homophobia as a way of proving their masculinity, according to an idealised version of what it means to be a man.

Tim Cassettari has been playing football since he was young. Source: Supplied

“Often when they use homophobic language and slurs — they sometimes don’t use it to cause harm, but because they think it will give them status and help them fit in with the group’s norms,” Storr said.

When it comes to older members of sporting clubs, they feel ingrained within the culture of their club and often struggle to adapt to social change, such as diverse sexualities, according to a South Australian research paper looking into sport and the LGBTIQ+ community published in the Frontiers in Psychology academic journal in 2021.

Toxic masculinity driving men out of team sports

“So one instance one of my teammates was called a f–got and another instance where I was called fairy.”

Tim rejoined football after finding a gay-friendly club (pictured) in Brisbane. Source: SBS

Tim believes people may rethink their attitudes if more queer people in sport are visible.

“[Coming out] has come with a mountain of downsides …. There’s multiple, multiple, multiple death threats that come my way daily still,” he said on FIFPRO’s Footballers Unfiltered podcast in March.

Dwindling interest in team sport for victims of homophobia

“Any time I consider starting again, I remember that feeling of isolation and experiencing the casual homophobia present in a lot of sporting places — even though statistically, I know there would be a lot more queer team members than just myself,” David told The Feed.

“If everyone who was queer came out at once, the illusion that no one was [queer] and that it was OK to be homophobic would shatter — but each comment went unchallenged, which made the next one easier for them to say, and harder for anyone to challenge.”

To this day, David hasn’t come out to his former teammates. So why are some male team sports so far behind?

‘Pride round’ questions, and a toxic ‘trickle-down’ effect

An A-Leagues spokesperson told The Feed in a statement they had “taken strides forward” to make football more inclusive for fans and players.

Some Australian sports have featured “pride rounds”, which are intended to celebrate the LGBTIQ+ community within sport. Source: Getty / Bradley Kanaris

“We were proud to hold our third league-wide Pride Celebration this year, again grounded in player education and the ambition to make a long-term impact … we want everyone to feel welcome at the A-Leagues.”

When community sports gets it right, it can provide a positive and safe environment for queer people. Women typically experience about half the amount of homophobia as men and non-binary people in team sports, according to the Annals of Leisure Research report.

Dr Ryan Storr from Swinburne University has undertaken research which shows LGBTIQ+ experiences in sport are not improving. Source: Supplied

Storr points out that coming out is not a “one-time” thing and goes far beyond sporting settings — and for the multicultural LGBTIQ+ community, there are ongoing challenges.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think homophobia is going anywhere.”