General Discussions

[DJC]

Apart from the quotes by Ian Roberts, that ABC article sounds like a bit of PR happy talk. Everybody's very respectful of each other, which is clearly better than starting a war of words, exchanging hostilities etc., but there's nothing in that article that suggests a solution, for a jersey that supposedly wasn't just about LGBT people, but all marginalized groups. The players may not have bad intentions, but consequences matter a whole lot more IMO.

It's not the Pasifika players' intentions that are at fault Paul.  It's Manly's failure to see that the "pride jersey" could be problematic for a significant part of its playing group, particularly when one of their own, in Roberts, may have brought them along.  Consulting their playing group and, hopefully, raising their awareness of  LGBTQ+ issues should have been the first step.  Now, what was an important initiative has, at best, raised awareness of impact of Christianity on Indigenous peoples.  At worst, it's further marginalised LGBTQ+ and Pasifika folk. 

I should add that Muslim proselytisers have had a similarly deleterious impact on Melanesian communities.