Australian Rules-Former West Coast player Brown comes out as bisexual in AFL first

MELBOURNE, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Former West Coast Eagles defender Mitch Brown became the first Australian Football League player, past or present, to come out as bisexual on Wednesday, saying he hoped he would encourage other footballers to come forward.

Until Brown, who played 94 matches for West Coast for a decade up to 2016, no male player had publicly identified as gay or bisexual in more than 100 years of the top flight of Australian Rules football.

Brown told the Daily Aus website he had kept his sexuality secret during his playing career in part because of a "hyper-masculine" culture in the AFL environment.

"I remember two people having a conversation around how they would feel having a shower next to a gay man, and one of the players said, 'I'd rather be in a cage full of lions than have a shower next to a gay man'," Brown said.

"There's been so many times in my life that I've seen things or heard things and not said anything, in fear of people thinking that I was gay or bisexual."

He said he hoped coming out would give other people "safety, comfort and space" to come forward.

"The reactions that I hope for are the ones I won't hear," he added.

"They're the ones of those young men around Australia going, 'I feel seen, I feel a little bit safer, and I have a role model — albeit just ordinary old Mitch — a role model I can now look to'," he said.

The 36-year-old's announcement comes less than a week after Adelaide Crows forward Izak Rankine became the sixth AFL-listed player in two seasons to be suspended for making a homophobic slur during a match.

The AFL has long positioned itself as a leader in promoting inclusion and diversity within sport, and partners with LGBT organisations in campaigns to promote equality.

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