Sport for Business
Sport for Business
Pride 2025 - Aidan Walsh of Sporting Pride
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When Aidan Walsh stepped away from swimming and water polo as a young man, he didn't see anyone who represented him in sport. The locker room culture, casual homophobic language dismissed as "banter," and complete absence of visible LGBTQI+ role models created an environment where he couldn't bring his full self to the activities he loved.
Fast forward to today, and Aidan is at the forefront of transforming Irish sport as a key figure with Sporting Pride, an organisation now in its ninth year of creating safer, more inclusive spaces where everyone feels they belong. Their work spans awareness campaigns, community outreach, and partnerships with Sport Ireland, national governing bodies, and local sports partnerships.
During our conversation, Aidan unpacks two groundbreaking initiatives making real impact across Ireland. The "Let's Get Visible" campaign encourages clubs and organisations to visibly demonstrate support during Pride Month through rainbow laces, inclusive signage, and participation in pride events. Meanwhile, an innovative advocacy programme with Clare Sports Partnership is training local LGBTQI+ advocates to be voices for inclusion within their own clubs – creating that crucial personal connection that humanizes inclusion efforts.
We explore the power of allyship in challenging locker room culture and how having visible supporters within sports clubs creates safe spaces for LGBTQI+ athletes. Aidan emphasizes how important it is for teammates to speak up when they hear homophobic language: "It's constantly people standing up and saying that wasn't the right thing to do."
The conversation also highlights the thriving network of over 45 LGBTQI+ sports clubs across Ireland that provide welcoming environments where people can connect with others like themselves while enjoying the physical and mental health benefits of sport. Many of these clubs offer pathways back into sport for those who stepped away due to feeling unwelcome.
Looking ahead, Aidan envisions a sporting landscape where every young LGBTQI+ person sees someone like them in sport – playing, coaching, or leading – and where inclusion is embedded in how clubs operate year-round, not just during Pride Month.
Ready to become a better ally? Visit sportingpride.ie to find resources for making your sports organisation more inclusive and welcoming for all.
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Hello and welcome to the Sport for Business podcast. I'm your host, rob Hartnett, and today we are diving into pride once more, in the latest in a short series of interviews that we've got with people who are living on the front line of the LGBTQI plus experience, specifically in sport. And who else could we speak to? Only Aidan Walsh of Sporting Pride, who has been in this space for a long time. You're very welcome onto the Sport for Business podcast, aidan.
Speaker 2:Thank you very much, Rob. Delighted to be here and have the opportunity to chat a little bit about what Sporting Pride does and hopefully let people know a little bit more about the work we do and get more people involved in what we do.
Speaker 1:Great. Well, let's do that. Let's find out a little bit more. Tell us in your own words where Sporting Pride was born out of and why it is an important organisation to have others coalesce around you.
Speaker 2:I think this is our ninth year since we've run it and I suppose we're about promoting visibility and inclusion for LGBTQIA people across all levels of Irish sport. We're here to support people participants and coaches, volunteers, supporters of sport working with governing bodies, sport Ireland, local sports partnerships I suppose creating safer spaces for everyone where they feel like they belong. Sport probably hasn't traditionally been extremely welcoming to the LGBT community, and I suppose that's what we're looking to change and then seeing what we can do. So the work that we do involves awareness campaigns and community outreach programs. As I say, we partner with Sport Ireland and national governing bodies and sports partnerships. We recently launched our three-year strategic plan, which gives us a little bit of focus about what we want to be doing over the next three years. An exciting part of that is training courses, so we now offer training for LGBT inclusion in sport, training programs for organizations, for clubs, for companies, people who want to learn a bit more about the challenges that are there for LGBT communities that people may not be aware of traditionally.
Speaker 2:So we have two campaigns that I suppose I'd like to talk about at some stage, regarding one being let's Get Visible campaign, which runs through the month of June with Sport Ireland.
Speaker 2:We run every year it's now in our fifth year and encourages clubs and organisations around the country to visibly show support during Pride Month of June, whether that's events or rainbow laces or inclusive signage or social media campaigns or even marching with Sporting Pride in the Dublin Parade at the end of June.
Speaker 2:So that's an important visibility piece that we're delighted to work with Sport Ireland on. And another kind of exciting development that we've had in the last few months is an LGBT advocacy pilot programme that we're running with Clare's Sports Partnership, where we've trained and supported local LGBT advocates in their clubs to be voices for inclusion in their own clubs. So this has helped build capacity at grassroots level and we hope to expand that then nationally when that campaign comes to an end in the autumn. So given if you're a member of a club and you see now a visible member of your club who's an LGBT ally, I think it's good to show that off and I think that's what's. That's an important pilot campaign that we're running with in Clare at the moment, and they're two campaigns, I suppose, to show grassroots work that we're trying to do to change Irish sport.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're really important because they also they like, they make it personal, they humanize it. So when you know when we talk of the community, or you know when we talk about, you know the need to be more inclusive. Unless you actually sort of you know, have somebody in mind that you can actually see, it doesn't have quite the same impact. So making it so that you know the individual experience, the lived experience, is so much easier for us to understand as human beings, I guess. So I love the way that that's going on. You mentioned there about the education as well, like that's always going to be really important.
Speaker 1:I don't know of any sporting organisations that would be, you know, adamantly opposed to inclusion, and certainly never ones that would would ever admit to it. But oftentimes it does need a little bit of an arm around the shoulder to actually guide you in the right direction, so that you are not afraid of using the wrong language or making the wrong choices. That it has to be done through the eyes of those who are living their lives as they want to and participating in sport as they want to as well. How does the education? How does that work? Will you actually go into a sports organisation allow them to bring their volunteers in, or is it at a high level?
Speaker 2:It can be at any level. I suppose we're currently just developing the actual what the programme content will look like, but I think there's probably a few levels that you'd like to think at a top level, at an organization level, at a national governing body-ledding, local sports partnership level, that there is probably education at that level that we can deliver and help those organizations. Great work has been done with a lot of EDI officers now being employed by a lot of the national governing bodies and it's kind of nearly expanding knowledge amongst everyone within those organizations. So I think we can definitely work with the governing bodies and local sports partnerships to help those people train. Then, I think, bring it down to the next level, as it always is. It's great having policy at a top level. Getting it down to grassroots can be more difficult. So, again, working with local sports partnerships, like we are in Clare, which is so far that it started kicked off in March, we're running through the month of summer. Now we've trained up our advocates. We're running through the month of summer to be able to then assess it then in August, september, and see what those people who have been trained up, what their experiences were.
Speaker 2:Is there things that we can do and tweak regarding the training for future and I think that type of a programme, once that's piloted and run with the support of the sports partnerships and Sport Ireland, could definitely be something that could be a huge change at a grassroots level around the country. So I think advocacy is so important. Having an ally, having people to show you don't have to remember the community, as I say, but having people who are visible and are showing their support for the community is so important, especially globally. There's so many issues at the moment around the world with kickback to, to inclusion policies, about uh and and specifically around lgt and trans phobia. So it's kind of anything we can do from a visible point of view not a grassroots level to include people, to make people feel safe and welcome in their local sports clubs or local sports facilities. I think is positive and hopefully this type of pilot programme is something that we could roll out in the future once it's complete.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that has arisen in a number of conversations this week about the fact that now it's probably more important than ever before that allies are willing to stand up and say no, I'm not going to roll back on all of the good things that have happened in recent years and inclusion, because the political environment has changed in one or two countries around the world. That does not happen in our patch and in our name. Have you felt that sort of need to almost regather and just press on with everything that has been successful in terms of inclusion without ever getting to a point where you thought that we were in a? We were in a good place? Improvement is always needed, but, yeah, that that resistance and reluctance to go any further has become something that is really challenging and really offensive in many ways, I think.
Speaker 2:I think that over the last several years, you know, there has been a notable change in acceptance, visibility for people in sport. You can see it. There's a long way to go still, I suppose, and especially when you hear that rhetoric going on at a global level already, even at European, eastern European level, parts of Europe not that far away from home, and that's why I suppose, like the let's Get Visible campaign that's currently run with Sport Ireland, can make a real difference because visibility matters. Clubs putting up posters, people sharing inclusive messages to join or to get involved in the club. It shows a very strong signal that people are welcome. And I think we've also seen the governing bodies include more LGBT actions in their inclusion strategies and, as I said, a lot of them now have EDI officers within their groups. Nearly.
Speaker 2:What we're saying is there's a huge amount of work and brilliant work done in other minority groups women in sport, disability in sport and we wanted to make sure our voice of the LGBT in sport is also included, plus other minority groups such as ethnic and traveller communities, just to make sure that inclusivity includes all those other groups too, and some of us may not have budgets or support to be able to shout as loud as some other groups and we want to be just part of that conversation and that people don't forget about it.
Speaker 2:So that's why I say this let's Get Visible campaign is so important and the climate is changing in Ireland. You know that, especially in clubs that are engaging with inclusion training and campaigns such as what we're running, but their locker room culture is still challenging for lots of people. Casual, homophobic language, transphobic remarks you know they're often kind of thrown out as banter and that type of thing, but they can create unsafe spaces and you know that's why ongoing education, especially from from leaders and you know, such as what we're doing in Clare at the moment with the local sports partnership there, you know that's really important. That leadership is shown at a coach level at a club, you know, at administrative level and then organizations and stuff like that too. So I think that's an important part of what it does has.
Speaker 1:Has anybody reached out to you to ask what the best way of challenging that is? Because, as you say, the locker room culture is something which has been mythologized down the years. It's, you know, it's, it's a part of sport, but it's not necessarily the most inclusive or the most welcoming part of sport and because it takes place behind closed doors, it can be almost kind of you know, hidden away from sight, but also more damaging for those that it impacts as well. What is the best way? If somebody is listening to this now, who was in a locker room last night and heard a comment which was not, which was not necessarily intended to hurt, but which did hurt?
Speaker 2:What's the best way of actually stepping in and challenging that? Yeah, I think there's, first off, that you let a person say they deserve to be their full self. And you know, if you are a member of the community and you did hear something like that you know you deserve to be your full step on and off the pitch. And I suppose finding an ally, where that's a coach or a teammate or you know an online community, just to let people know that this has happened. You know, within the club you'd like to say there's an ally within the club, such as that campaign we're doing in Clare that you can visibly see someone go to and hopefully that can training that we provide. That person shows what can be done at a club level to to actually stamp that out and to make sure it's not.
Speaker 2:It's not accepted and that kind of side. But I suppose that person knows that that person's identity is their strength. It shouldn't be a barrier that who you are and you know you need to keep doing what you love and you're involved in the sport. You deserve to be there and and if you're ever in sure, remember there's there is a growing movement from the likes of ourselves with the let's get visible campaign, who are there to back them, so, so not to feel that you're alone and that you know, hopefully within your club there's an ally, there's someone who can you can go to and speak to about it, who can help make that change. It won't happen overnight, but as well, it's constantly people standing up and and saying that wasn't the right thing to do, let's not, let's, let's do something different to make sure and that it won't happen again, I think. I think getting at a community and club level, that's really, really important and that person then to reach out.
Speaker 1:There's loads of other people, there's loads of support out there and that person deserves to be themselves both on and off the pitch, and we are here to support them to do that and and just to double down on that like it is, it is important that it not just be the person who is, who might be gay themselves, who is, you know, personally offended by it, the leverage and the value of actually having your teammates standing up around you.
Speaker 2:So there's not just one voice calling somebody out, that it's two, three, four, half the team, all of the rest of the team, absolutely and I think back to the allyship and showing that you're an ally, thankfully, the way there's a lot more younger people who feel safe and comfortable coming out at a younger age than I did in my day, that hopefully those people have friends, have a strong support network who will stand up for those, and I suppose that allyship that's showing about standing up for, for, for people maybe who are marginalized and who are who who don't have a stronger voice as you. It is so important in allyship, especially this month of pride month is so important and and we're delighted to say this, let's give Israel a campaign with, with sport.
Speaker 1:Ireland, you know, is all about that okay, can I bring it back from the global to the dressing room, to the, to the personal your own personal experience of what it was like to be a gay man interested in sport, involved in sport. What was your experience like as a young, as a younger man?
Speaker 2:yeah, I, I suppose I grew up in in County Mayo in a big sporty family and you know, know, sport was a huge part of what I was. I was a swimmer. I was a swimmer and water polo player primarily all the way through to leave Insert and you know my journey. Probably I came out later in life. Sport wasn't a welcoming place for me. I didn't see anyone who represented me in sport. There was a pressure to hide that part of me, I suppose all the way through, because I didn't feel comfortable and whether it was fear of judgment or locker room culture, as we said, or simply not seeing people like me represented in sport.
Speaker 2:So for me personally, donald Cusack coming out, gareth Thomas in rugby in the UK, robbie Rogers in soccer all those people come out was huge for me and I was like I actually couldn't believe it.
Speaker 2:You know it didn't sit with me that there was. You could be gay, homosexual or an LGBT member and sport didn't really, for that hadn't been the same for me. So that kind of visibility is so important. And then probably also that experience growing up and when I did eventually come out in my mid-30s probably shaped me in positive ways and my drive, passion and change and helping to one of the founding members of sporting pride. It showed, you know that by being involved the member of the lgbt sporting community, you know I found a powerful sense of who I am and where I belong. So I think sport has that experience I had at younger has has helped me to where I am today and and where a sporting pride and stuff is today as well. So I think that's kind of from my personal point of view. I my experience has helped me drive to hopefully make change in what we're doing currently yeah, and that work that you've done?
Speaker 1:can you, can you see the evident change, and I'm sure you can, as would across all of society, in terms of inclusion? But when you were 16 years old, if you were in sport now, do you feel that the changes which have come about would make it much easier for you to to bring your whole self into your sport?
Speaker 2:I think there is. Yes, possibly in certain sports more so than others, and I suppose you know the tendency for LGBT men is more the individual sports, less the team sports, research showing, while for LGBT females a little bit more in the team sports, more than male, that gravitate more towards team sports rather than to individual. Which goes back to our point about what is it about locker room culture in male environment versus female environment? Is there differences? There's stuff we can learn from from that side, the female side, and the inclusivity and the team bonding that isn't currently or hasn't traditionally been there in the male side. But I think lots of sporting bodies are making real efforts to change and and engaging with inclusion policy.
Speaker 2:We are consulting with the likes ourselves or other lgbt organizations and participating campaigns like let's Get Visible, and I think that's why back the leadership and the 65 governing bodies in the country. You know some are more progressive than others and also we need more consistency and some sports are quite far advanced in their inclusion of the LGBT community. Others are just starting. So, online, the education side, investment in LGBT-led programmes and embedding inclusion in training can really make a big difference. So we're hoping again back to this Clare LGBT Advocacy Programme as a pilot test to see how it works, if something like that being rolled out to a few more local sports partnerships around the country can really make a big difference. So hopefully, if that person myself as a 16 year old that kind of a change at a governing body level and then at a community level with local sports partnerships, you would hope it's a much more positive experience that that person will have than 20, 30 years ago.
Speaker 1:Okay, we do a Support for Social Good event in October and that might be an interesting conversation to have as to how that has gone, because the LSP network is very good at sharing and coming together and actually sort of, you know, taking the best of what somebody has developed and actually rolling that out.
Speaker 1:And even if it's just a pilot program in 20 and then 26 counties, then great, you know that it should be, so let's we. We might come back to that over the over the course of it, because you know, pride isn't just for june, so the more that we can do about making sure that inclusion is on the is on the agenda all the time will be great. Is there a capacity? Does sporting pride have the kind of the time will be great? Is there a capacity? Does Sporting Pride have the kind of the head so that you can actually provide a facility? If you're a young person who is, you know, sure of their own sense of themselves and wants to play sport, wants to be a member of a team but doesn't feel comfortable because of their individual locker room culture, is there a way in which they can actually reach out to you as a group to find a way that they can actually navigate this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and one of the key parts of what we do. There's a thriving LGBT sport community throughout the country. So there's now over 40, 45 thriving sports clubs around the country that are LGBT inclusive, that they're LGBT driven organisations that are open to all members of the community everybody essentially such as the Emerald Warriors I know you're speaking with Richie as part of this programme as well Emerald Warriors. There's 45 or so organisations around the country and they're brilliant for safe, welcoming places for people maybe who they may be an out player or not, an out player in their local GAA team in Kerry, or a badminton player in Donegal and there probably comes a time in your life when you want to meet old people like you, to meet your tribe. You know people can go online to find other people. You can go to pubs and bars. How do you meet other LGBT people? I suppose you know, at the end of the day, gays want to meet other gays and I suppose that's what these LGBT clubs do in the world of sport is that they're creating one. They're creating a safe, welcoming place for people just to meet other people like themselves, but also the whole fitness, mental health, physical health background. So those 45 sports clubs do a really important thing in finding LGBT people, find other people like them, and that's why they're kind of unique for the LGBT inclusion piece in that and we do get a lot of kickback. Why is there a need for a gay specific club, soccer club, rugby club back? Why is there a need for a gay specific club, soccer club, rugby club? And we would challenge that in that, you know it's for LGBT people to find other LGBT people because it's a. It's a scary world if you don't know what else and I know from personal experience. You know it's a scary, intimidating world if you don't know nobody in it. Going into the George for me the first time I went in was really I was very drunk and I only went in when I was drunk. I just didn't know anyone else in it. But joining a sports club allows you to meet people within the community and suddenly this is now a space that you're much more comfortable in, a safe, welcoming space for yourself. So I think those LGBT sports clubs create a unique part of LGBT sports inclusion.
Speaker 2:That again part of training when people, when it's explained to people why those clubs are so important, it makes sense, while if you weren't trained or talked about it. You might say, well, there shouldn't be any, it's exclusive. An LGBT sports club is actually exclusive because other people can't do it, but in reality it actually is is. They're really, really important and and a lot of people who join those clubs may have been out of sport for 10, 15, 20 years. They haven't found sport welcome.
Speaker 2:This is a way to get back into sport there. A lot of them are non-competitive. A lot of them have levels that are, are, are are very much beginner levels. Again, as an adult, get involved in ga. If you've never played ga in your life before or you're you're you're you're new to a new irish person looking to play ga first time, it's very hard to go to a local ga club and do. A lot of them don't do adults sports clubs, but the lgp sports ga club, um the gail erica in dublin does that and they have a brilliant program and introducing people to to sport as an adult. So they do lots of really, really good things.
Speaker 2:So I think if if someone was to, was listening to this and was either a member of the LGBT community or not, who's involved in sport anyway and wants to meet other people in sport, I would say check out our we have a leaflet that we produce with all the details of all the 45 or so sports clubs around the country and see if there's a sport there that you can dip in and out of. You can go to once every two months, once every three months you don't have to be there every week and kind of a safe welcoming place to meet new people and that's what they're really good to. Check out our website.
Speaker 1:Votingprideie for information about that. Great, we will definitely put that into the show notes on this interview as well. So if I could give you a magic wand which allowed you to introduce some element that enabled sport to be more inclusive in every way, shape and form, particularly for the LGBTQI plus community, what would that be? What's the one thing that you think could make a real difference over the next, say, 10 years?
Speaker 2:I think you'd love to think that at a community level or at club level, that every young LGBT person sees someone like them in sport, whether that's playing or coaching or leading, or inclusion is kind of such a huge part of what they do and it's not just a once a year campaign, it's kind of how the club or community group operates, it's a central part to it and I think it's what things like the a national network of, of trained LGBT advocates in sport like we're piloting currently in Clare, something like that embedded in every county, because I think it needs to be at that community level, that that's where you see a real difference and real change.
Speaker 2:And inclusion then would be part of you know, coaches, administrators, volunteers, inductions, team value. It then filters into team values. So I think that everyone I suppose that everyone, regardless of their identity could then have an opportunity to feel safe and seen and supported from the moment they walk into a club. So that's something I think that you'd love to see is that kind of a community element of work where everyone feels included.
Speaker 1:Great, and it doesn't need to take 10 years. The sooner the better, the sooner the better, yeah, and last thing, let's just go back on. Let's Get Visible. So this coming Saturday is the Dublin Pride March, and there are others as well. Anna Looney has spoken to us this week about how brilliant the Cork Pride March is. Later on in the year there's Belfast Pride. How can people go about actually getting involved as an ally? What's the best way for somebody, either as a sports club or as an individual, to reach out that said, yeah, I want to put my hand up and say that I'm an ally I want to support.
Speaker 2:Well, I think there's lots of ways they can do it. I think, first and foremost, within the club, I think, reaching out to the national governing body that you're working with and saying, speaking, hopefully, that national governing body has a programme around inclusion, lgbt side of it, so they can tap into that. Or even if the governing body isn't doing something, they can put a bit of pressure on them. Listen, we're a club that really wants to be an ally. What can we do? What can we as a club do? And then what can we do within our sport to show that we can, that we're allies and get involved in this. Let's get visible campaign is an important part. And then also, I suppose that there are training programs. Reach out to the likes of ourselves in sporting pride we can help with. In the coming months we'll have a training program which, if a club wanted to do amongst their officers, amongst their coaches, we can roll that out for them.
Speaker 2:And I think there's also lots of other excellent lgbt organizations out there, such as belong to, who can help with getting in a journey and being more inclusive in in the space, especially among young people.
Speaker 2:So I think, I think there's lots of things and as simply as showing a rainbow flag, wearing rainbow laces, wearing a badge, just showing visibility, I think is such important throughout the year to make people in that club who may be feeling frightened or scared or not knowing who to talk to, and to show that this club is a safe and welcoming place and we are allies and we knowing who to talk to, and to show that that this club is a safe and welcoming place and we are allies and we're here to support you and want you to be yourself. I think if we can get that message out there, it'll be really positive and and hopefully that's something that some people may take inspiration from that and and like to do that in the month of june great in the month of june and july and august and 12 of the year, because inclusion should be all the time on for everybody.
Speaker 1:It has been a pleasure, as always, chatting to you, Aidan. The very best of luck with everything that you're involved in in this really important areas. Aidan Walsh from SportingPrideie. Go raibh míle maith agat.
Speaker 1:Go raibh maith agat thank you for listening and thank you, aidan Walsh of Sporting Pride, for taking time out at a very busy week in a very busy time of the year to chat to us as well. This is one of a series of interviews with people who are living on the front line of the LGBTQI plus experience within Irish sport. The Sport for Business podcast generally drops every Tuesday evening Coming up. We've got interviews with Kevin White, the sporting director par excellence within US college sport, and with Noel Quinn, the director of GAA plus, at a very busy time of the year for the GAA season. If you want, you can subscribe to the Sport for Business podcast wherever you get your podcasts from, and if you want to know more about what we do across all areas of sport and business, you can find us at sportforbusinesscom. Thank you again for taking the time to listen and have a great day. Thank you.
