Victorian cricket supports marriage equality

Endorsed by the respective Boards of all three organisations, the decision maintains Victorian cricket’s long-standing commitment to being a sport for all participants.

It comes as Victorian cricket embarks on several new cricket projects to further engage Victoria’s LGBTI+ community.

Cricket Victoria CEO Tony Dodemaide said: “What we want at the core of Victorian cricket is a welcoming environment for everyone who wants to get involved. Regardless of your cultural heritage, your gender and importantly in this context, your sexuality, cricket has place for you,” Dodemaide said.

With support from Sport and Recreation Victoria, Cricket Victoria and Cricket Australia recently engaged Victoria University to conduct a study on LGBTI+ inclusion within Australia cricket, examining current attitudes and experiences in cricket for people who identify as LGBTI+.

“This research is important in the context of what we deliver. Victorian cricket prides itself on being a sport for all but in circumstances where individuals may have had a different experience, we need to understand those challenges and find solutions,” Dodemaide said.

Cricket Victoria is also running Proud Cricket as part of VicHealth’s Innovation Challenge program. Proud Cricket is designed to improve equity, diversity and inclusiveness with education to create more inclusive club practices and improve club culture.

Clubs that sign up to participate are eligible to receive small grants incentives for their involvement.

“Today is one among several important steps but there is still a significant amount of work to be done both in cricket and across sport more broadly. We hope that supporting marriage equality will send a strong message to the Victorian cricket community that we are a sport for all,” Dodemaide said.

More than 1600 organisations have made the commitment via an open letter of support.

Victorian cricket’s commitment comes as postal votes from the Australian Bureau of Statistics are being sent to Australian homes, seeking a response to the Australian Government’s Australian Marriage Law Survey.