About IDAHO 2010

THEME for IDAHO 2010 IN VICTORIA – Speaking about the silence towards homophobia in sport

OUR GOAL: To encourage all people involved in sport, as participants or fans, players or spectators and administrators to stand up to homophobia where ever they see it.  We want homophobia to be as unacceptable in sport as racism or sexism currently is. 

In the competitive world of sport where the strongest win, men are men and women are girls. If you are outside the stereotypes of masculine and feminine you are suspect,in sports it is still acceptable to sledge players, coaches and officials using homophobic language and insinuation to intimidate.

From kid’s sports to professionals, this problem exists from players and coaches on the field and in the change rooms to spectators jeering on the sidelines.

Yet silence is master as people are afraid to speak up and bring the aggressors hatred to a halt. People think that they are just words to be taken on and shrugged off, but they isolate, degrade, and cause severe health issues. 

Join the Team

Be a part of a team that doesn’t discriminate, that embraces diversity and accepts that every team member is vital for their unique contribution. Help us to break down the wall of silence and create equality in sports participation through education and by each one of us taking steps to eradicate homophobia with our families, communities, workplaces and friends.

Gameplan

We ask that you/your organisation create a game plan. Ask yourselves what can you do to help stop homophobia.

You can:

  • Post a link to stophomophobiatoday.com on your website;
  • Audit your organisation to gauge if homophobic language is used;
  • Hold a forum – talk to people about the issues and their effects;
  • Talk about the issues through social media;
  • Create pamphlets to display in your foyer;
  • Encourage people to report homophobic behaviours;
  • Plan an event for the day……

Be creative in how you make homophobia a topic of conversation and end the silence.

Whatever you do, whatever you decide will be your game plan, let us know.

Keep an eye on stophomophobiatoday.com as we are creating resources for you to use and posting them soon. In April we will be asking you to take a video on your phone telling us what steps you will be taking to stop homophobia and to send it to stophomophobiatoday.com.

We want you to take action as part of the team to work towards Stopping Homophobia Today.

Don’t keep this information to yourself, pass it on…….

Sincerely,

The team at stophomophobiatoday.com