I hope the club are watching very closely.
Would like to hear the pride's thoughts on this. I would be shattered if our players refused to play and bailed on the team for something so pedantic at the end of the day (it's literally just some rainbow on a shirt)
However, there's a difference between wanting to promote something and then actively despising it and wishing for harm. I doubt the Manly seven genuinely wear malice in their heart (I could be wrong, but I doubt it). For religious reasons, they don't want to wear the shirt, and so they've made themselves, the Manly club, and perhaps the game itself an easy target to cop the brunt.
The same could happen here and so as I said I hope we are paying attention carefully. How do we reconcile the fact that the game is dominated by Islander players (from nations dominated by fundamentalist Christianity) while also wishing to be inclusive to the wider LGBTQ world?
I think maybe the club and NRL could design their own inclusive branding that doesn't have to jump on the rainbow branding, maybe. Yes, rainbow is the symbol for LGBTQ and inclusivity, but like it or not it's also a symbol adopted by those with more motives than just that. It shares space with political causes/topics such as pro sex work, gender reassignment surgery and hormone suppression for kids, abortion, etc. All contentious issues that any sports club should steer well away from.
Where I'm going with this is, it's so complicated and messy, are our club paying attention?
I also see the argument that it should be as simple as adopting the current, main symbol for inclusivity (the rainbow) and that the argument ends there, because everyone should be on board for that. It's a pretty good argument but it's also shallow. Most people know that rabbit hole goes a lot deeper than that. Straight to the political, straight to the religious, there's no avoiding it.
Messy, messy situation. Thoughts?
The original rainbow "pride" flag was chosen as a symbol for the gay rights movement - prior symbols used included the "pink triangle" used to identify homosexuals in Nazi concentration camps.
It also took inspiration from the hippie movement (think tie-die) and the "flag of the races" which had 5 colours as part of the world peace movement.
It was intended as a symbol for one movement but has been adopted by a number of others, although there are now several variations with each claiming to represent more and more groups, particularly around people of colour who identify with those groups.
Manly have not used the traditional "pride" rainbow, instead using most of the colours in a different arrangement. I assume this was to not just represent LGBTIQA+ but rather represent "people as a spectrum" without clear divisions.
In fact, their name for it, the "Everyone in League" jersey, has no reference to "pride" or LGBTIQA+ issues and the jersey is supporting Gotcha4Life who are a charity with the vision of 0 suicides in Australia.
Rainbows have long been seen as a symbol of hope (the sun after the storm), peace and unity (all the colours side by side). The Christian churches have their own connections to the rainbow as the sign of the covenant between God and mankind.
What's also interesting is that many Pasifika cultures have at least some element fluid/non-binary gender norms compared to Western culture, with the idea of "third gender", "faʻafafine
" (and similar) and other non-binary genders in their traditional cultures.
From their own product page:
“Sport is one of those great things where people come together from all walks of life and participate in something without exclusion. This jersey is a celebration of that and the first of its kind in the NRL,’’ said Tyler Rakich, Founder/Director of Dynasty Sport
“The ‘Everyone in League’ Jersey is something we’ve wanted to do for a number of years now. As soon as we got the concept locked in, all parties have contributed to make it what it is and it’s something we’re all really proud of.
“The design itself maintains the iconic Manly DNA with the striped design and maroon but with the subtle inclusion of the rainbow colours which are a nod to inclusivity for Everyone in League.“
Not one mention of LGBTIQA+ or any other gender or sexuality based issue. The players have baulked at the mere sight of something that could represent beliefs which don't align with their own.
It's really unfortunate that:
- Women in League round's launch has now turned into a fight between religion and inclusion, rather than focusing on its original aims
- Anyone who is LGBTIQA+ within the NRL sphere now most likely feels marginalised, ostracised and not welcome in that sphere
- No team will see a benefit to show the same support to the cause due to this backlash and NRL will become a vacuum for progressive causes once more.
- The actual Women in League who identify as LGBTIQA+ will now feel even more like outsiders
It's also quite sad that the players feel they aren't represented as "everyone in league" but that, ultimately, is a block they have decided to put up rather than any fault of Manly or Dynasty. It is really a shame that those 7 don't want to be a part of it.