SKINS and partners help Pride in Sport kick LGBTI prejudice out of the sport
Grassroots and community sporting clubs, as well as individuals, are invited to wear Rainbow Laces next month as part of the ‘Rainbow Round of Sport’.
Individuals can collect free laces from any Medibank Branch, Rebel, Rebelfit or AMART SPORTS store from this weekend.
The second ‘Rainbow Round of Sport’ will take place from Thursday 6th to Sunday 9th April as a way of athletes, administrators and fans showing that LGBTI prejudice has no place in sport.
Teams wishing to order multiple pairs of free laces can place their orders online at rainbowlaces.net where laces are available in packages of 25 pairs or more.
The initiative is the brainchild of Australian sportswear company SKINS, inspired by a similar campaign in England. SKINS partnered with Pride in Sport, a sporting inclusion program that helps national and state sporting organisations and clubs with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) employees, players, coaches, volunteers and fans, to bring the concept to Australian sport for the first time last year.
The Australian #RainbowLaces campaign embraces all major sporting codes, with SKINS making laces available for free to grassroots and community sporting clubs and individuals. As well as distribution partners Rebel, Rebelfit AMART SPORTS and Medibank, Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, has partnered with SKINS and Pride in Sport to kick-off the #RainbowLaces campaign at a gala dinner and auction in Sydney on March 24.
Executive Chairman of SKINS, Jaimie Fuller, says sport should be a place where people feel safe and welcome whether they are a player, volunteer, administrator or fan. “Through #RainbowLaces, we want to show that LGBTI prejudice has no place in sport. The only thing that matters is what happens on the field. “If we extend the issue of LGBTI prejudice in the sport into broader society, we are confronted with one of the significant moral injustices of our time – marriage inequality. “Sport doesn’t have to merely reflect society. We can rise up and help lead it.”
Clubs already committed to #RainbowLaces include the ACT Brumbies, Essendon Bombers, GWS Giants, NSW Swifts, Giants Netball, North Queensland Cowboys, Penrith Panthers and Sydney FC, together with elite individuals such as Johnathan Thurston, Robbie Farah, Andrew Fifita, Rostyn Griffiths, Dylan Shiel and Alex Wilkinson.
