It’s a question to which there is no simple answer. Where is the balance when it comes to an individual’s right to an opinion, versus the potential consequences of sharing that opinion? And nowhere is this more apparent than the world of celebrity and social media.
And Basketball in Australia is not immune.
Sydney Kings star recruit, NBA veteran and aussie-returned-home Andrew Bogut is no stranger to social-media controversy. He is unapologetic for sharing his opinions and hitting back at those who disagree. But when a professional athlete has great reach and influence is there a point when restraint is called for?
This weekend Bogut’s tweets on gender identity did not go unnoticed, with several people calling him out, including former-ABC star and comedian, Matt Okine . On Sunday, Bogut tweeted;
‘Young fella has figured out boy and girl……Proud moment that he now knows all the genders!’
To which Okine replied ‘Why would you even tweet this??’.
Okine was one of a number of people in the Twittersphere to express disagreement and even anger at Bogut for his tweet. However, there was no reversal from the Kings star, who stood his ground.
This wasn’t the first time Bogut had tweeted his thoughts on gender identity. At the start of the month he suggested that the use of ‘they’ and ‘them’ pronouns was akin to him asking to be called an astronaut.
He has entered the debate on the plastic bag ban, the voting system for the Brownlow and has, although not avertedly, had cheeky swipes at the both ‘the left’ and ‘feminism’, in one tweet questioning the Australian Navy for their support of gender inclusion programs.
Bogut, as with all Australian’s has the right to have views on plastic bags and sporting matches. His political ideologies are his own, and if he wishes to share them, so be it. In fact, good on him. And of course, a cheeky swipe here and there is typically Australian. But when a celebrated sports identity, being paraded all over the country to get people to games expresses an opinion that is at best misguided, and at worst, bigotry – has it gone too far?
The transgender and intersex community are seeking simple compassion, recognition and respect. And tweets like that from Bogut on the weekend denies them this.
We know that suicide rates among LGBTQI+ kids are among the highest in our country. According to the National LGBTI Health Alliance, 35% of transgender and 19% of intersex people in Australia have attempted suicide. This is comparative to a national rate of 3.2%.
Gets you thinking, what of the young transgender basketball fan? The 15 year-old gender-diverse kid looking to their basketball hero’s for support? I am confident that Bogut means no harm. He is simply tweeting his (totally tone deaf in this case) opinion, but when your opinion has the ability to impact on the most vulnerable among us, surely we all have a responsibility to keep it to ourselves?
In the words of Rumi – Is it kind? Is it helpful? Is it necessary?
In a show of solidarity with the LGBTQI community how great would it be if the Kings fly a rainbow flag at the first game. Invite all transgender and intersex people along, welcoming them with open arms. Basketball is for everyone.
Let’s fill QUDOS arena, with all the people, whatever their gender identification may be. And let’s all of us make a commitment to consider the impact of our opinions.
Olivia is a long-suffering Sydney Kings fan as well as playing and refereeing basketball in local competitions for over a decade. In her real life, she's trying to get into academia, having just completed her PhD in film studies, and runs her own high school tutoring business. Her hobbies include trying to get love from unfriendly cats, drinking tea, and being jealous of fans of teams that actually win.