Gus Johnston Hockey Champion Comes out on UTube

 

  

GUS Johnston was a champion hockey goalkeeper. A gutsy player who regularly put his body on the line for his team, Johnston represented Victoria for 12 years and was vice-captain of his local club Essendon for seven. While his flame-red hair and natural ability made him a big identity in his sport, he was little known outside hockey circles. Until last month, that is, when he posted an emotional 12-minute video on YouTube in which he outed himself as gay.

In the film, which he called ''The reality of homophobia in sport'', Johnston looks the viewer in the eye as he says: ''My name is Gus Johnston, I'm a writer, art director, filmmaker and a hockey goalkeeper. I'm also a gay man - and that's something I never thought I would say in such a public forum like this.''

 

Gutsy: Victorian hockey player Gus Johnston has outed himself in a 12-minute YouTube video. Photo: Craig Sillitoe

His eyes well up and hands shake at points during the clip, as he speaks candidly about his closeted life in a sporting culture in which strict stereotypes about ''real men'' are rigidly adhered to. ''I regret immensely that I wasn't strong enough as a leader, that I didn't step up when I was playing and share this about myself,'' he says.

He explains that he has done so 10 months after retiring, in part to let young gay athletes know that they are not alone. He also wants to tell the broader sporting community that gossip and ''jokes'' about sexuality peddled in locker rooms are homophobic and hurtful.

Posting an email address at the end of his YouTube clip enabled hundreds of people to send him their congratulations - among them were an AFL coach and several current players.

Swimmer Daniel Kowalski. Photo: Craig Golding

''I went from someone who has never been in the public eye in the slightest to someone experiencing a tidal wave of complete positivity,'' Johnston says.

By coming out, Johnston joins an exclusive club of elite Australian athletes. In our sports-obsessed nation, in which it is estimated 10 per cent of the population is homosexual, it is telling that only three other elite male athletes have come out: Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham, Olympic swimmer Daniel Kowalski and rugby league player Ian Roberts.