In 2015 the Sydney Swans official LGBTIQ+ supporter group the Rainbow Swans set up a market stall alongside the Newtown Breakaways Football Club at the annual Mardi Gras Fair Day.

Fast forward 5 years, Rainbow Swans Chair Sarina Jackson sat down with the Breakaways to announce the community group would be funding the club’s inaugural Pride guernsey.

“We’ve always had a stall with the Sydney Swans at Mardigras Fair Day, Fan Day and a couple of other fairs etc. In 2020, we got in contact with the Breakaways, we sat down ahead of pride round and they said they were looking for sponsors,” Jackson said.

“We have a paid membership, and the aim is to give that money back to the community. We had made donations to charities, but this was a different way of giving back to the community.

“We had been wanting to launch a Swans pride guernsey for years, so to see Newtown run out with one that we’re affiliated with was really exciting. Seeing our logo on the jumper – it was moving.

“It’s that power of community, the power of pride and to witness the pride from the players wearing the guernsey which was really special, it meant a lot.

As an independent women’s AFL club, Breakaways president Tiffany Chen admits she was overwhelmed by the support by not only the two women’s sides, but their newly formed men’s side too.

“Pride guernseys are something I believe every club wishes they had, but jumpers are very expensive and with our first ever men’s side, we needed enough for three teams,” Chen said.

“I was afraid the guys would be a little more hesitant to put on a rainbow jumper because you hear about homophobia in male sports, but they were really excited to get the jumper and play in them.

“I don’t know how to explain how special that was to see all three teams pull on that guernsey with so much pride and passion – it brings a tear to the eye almost.”

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The Sydney Swans will pull on their inaugural Pride Guernsey against St Kilda on Saturday night, in a move both Chen and Jackson say is a huge step forward in promoting equality and eliminating discrimination towards the LGBTIQ+ community.

“It’s great to see players pull on the guernsey, and it’s even better to hear them speak about the importance of it. It drives home the message to the outsider that when people put those hurtful comments online, someone is reading them and is affected by them,” says Chen.

Jackson adds the initiative further demonstrates the Swans leadership in and support for the Rainbow community.

“The Rainbow Swans have been around for a long time and the club has always been so supportive of us. They’re community leaders. I sit on the diversity action panel as the Gay & Lesbian representative on the panel and that in itself is community leading for the Swans. Both the community clubs and the club itself support each other,” Jackson said.

“It’s such a unique dynamic for a professional club to be so supportive of a community, and for a community to be so supportive of a professional club. It shows the importance of community and being a community leader.

“Of course, we are faced with some backlash every year, but it’s comments like that make us need to do this, not just want to do it. We’re getting somewhere.”

Find out more about the Rainbow Swans and the Newtown Breakaways.