Whilst federal politicians were floating anti-LGTBQIA+ bills at Parliament House, Eastlake Cricket Club were working to embrace that very community with open arms.
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LGBTQIA+ athletes will be celebrated at Kingston Oval on Sunday for the next leg of the Pride Cup. Cup organisers joined forces with the UK Government to bring the series to Australia, and subsequently Canberra, to celebrate the diverse identities that play cricket.
Transgender athlete Hannah Mouncey said local sport was the most important place for LGBTQIA+ athletes to be embraced. She said whilst she had always been involved in sport and felt comfortable, it was a really intimidating environment for a lot of trans people.
"It's really important and it's the most important place for it to come from," she said.
"Like I said a couple of weeks ago, the only reason those bills were being introduced and being put up for debate was because the government thinks they can get away with it when it comes to trans people in particular. And so the more these things happen at grassroots level, the more the message gets through that it's not okay.
"It's really important the messaging that it sends to the community as a whole that actually if you want to play cricket or whatever sport it is, you're actually welcome to do it. And people often ask why it's necessary, but I think the thing is when there's been so much abuse and so much hate put out for generations, a lot of the time you do need to do that extra effort to go 'Actually guys, we didn't mean it. Come back'."
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A curtain raiser game featuring Australia's British High Commissioner Vicki Treadell, former Wallaby David Pocock, Mouncey and more will take place at 12pm, before two all star teams - made up of Eastlake players from various grades - battle for the Cup.
The games come mere weeks after the Australian government tried to pass an anti-LGBTQIA+ bill, and later proposed an anti-transgender sport bill.
Eastlake's women's program coordinator Carli Eaton said as an ally, it was paramount to organise the day to show how much it meant to the club.
"For us, it's really important that people can come to our club and feel welcome and feel included. It's such an important part of community and it's also somewhere, particularly in places like Canberra where people come here for work and they don't necessarily have that social support network, they turn to to make connections," she said.
"Sport offers a lot of mental health benefits but if you were to come to a club where you weren't able to be yourself, you wouldn't necessarily get those mental health benefits from it. So we're really focused on building a culture where everyone can feel like they can be themselves."
The Canberra leg of the Cup follows an event in Geelong last month as part of the partnership with the UK Government.
The British High Commissioner said they were delighted to be support the Cup's community cricket series.
"Watching and playing sport can feel like a break from reality - but these sports and these teams must also be a reflection of reality and inclusive and open to all players - regardless of their sexuality or gender identity," Treadell said.
"The UK is committed to championing LGBT+ rights globally. We're co-chairs of the Equal Rights Coalition and this year we are hosting 'Safe to Be Me: A Global Equality Conference". This is the UK Government's first global LGBT+ conference coinciding with the first official London Pride March's 50th anniversary.
"I'm excited to see the themes of the conference come to light in this tournament - tackling discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities for all."