26 November 2024 | Tennis West

LGBTQ+ Pride 

Tennis West, in support from Tennis Australia, is committed to embracing diversity by ensuring our sport and events are welcoming, safe and inclusive for everyone. This includes people who belong to the LGBTQ+ community. We believe that being inclusive is reflecting the diversity of our local communities and that everyone should have the opportunity to be included and engaged through tennis in a way that is positive and meaningful for them regardless of their gender identity, sex, sexuality or any other defining characteristic. 

 

National Partnerships  

As of October 2024, Tennis West is a member of Pride in Sport Australia.  

“Pride in Sport is a national not-for-profit sporting inclusion program specifically designed to assist sporting organisations of all levels with the inclusion of employees, athletes, coaches, volunteers and spectators with diverse sexualities and genders. The world-first Pride in Sport Index (PSI) benchmarks and assesses the inclusion of LGBTQ people across all sporting contexts.” 

Tennis West will complete a Foundation Submission for the Pride in Sport Index in December 2024. 

 

Club Partnerships 

Tennis West is proud to work alongside Loton Park Tennis Club, an LGBTI managed, TW affiliated tennis club in the inner metro of Perth with the motto, ‘Diversity is our Advantage’. We support LPTC in promoting their events such as the Perth Lawn Tennis Championships which, in 2024, will have Masters Status as a lead-in event to the Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance ‘Glam Slam’ at the Australian Open 2024.  

 

Initiatives 

2022/23 State League Inaugural Pride Match 

Tennis West State League hosted the inaugural Pride Match at Dalkeith Tennis Club on Saturday 25th February between Dalkeith Tennis Club and Alexander Park Tennis Club. It showcased inclusion and diversity with the launch and was a first step in Tennis West being active in promoting proud acceptance toward the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Read about it here 

If you want to include photos there are some here 

 

Serving Pride Initiative and the Australian Open Club Pride Nights 

The Inclusion and Clubs Teams have worked together with Tennis Australia on their initiative to support local clubs in celebrating pride across Australia. The inaugural event during the 2023 AO included 2 WA clubs, UWA Tennis Club and Tom Price Tennis Club. The aim of the Club Pride Nights initiative is to educate and support tennis clubs on how they can be inclusive of their local LGBTQ+ community by providing a welcoming and safe environment. It is also an opportunity for tennis clubs to lead the way on advocating zero tolerance towards homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and interphobia. 

16 clubs around Australia hosted a community Pride event on Friday 27th January, a show of collective celebration. 

During AO24, 2 clubs within WA participated in the initiative: Margaret River Tennis Club, and Tom Price Tennis Club. 

 

Club Education 

Tennis West and Tennis Australia supported clubs in participating in community education in partnership with Pride Cup in 2022 

 

Confidential Contacts and Wellbeing 

Tennis Australia strongly advocates zero tolerance on attitudes regarding homophobia, biphobia and transphobia within our sport. 

If you need to contact Tennis West for a confidential and informal discussion regarding LGBTQ+ matters within your organisation, please contact Tennis West Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Lead Zara Cavalot on [email protected] 

If you require additional support and/or guidance from Tennis Australia regarding welfare/member protection matters, please contact our TA Integrity & Compliance Unit (TAICU) on [email protected] 

If you require additional information or confidential counselling support, the following LGBTQ+ organisations can provide guidance: 

• Beyond Blue | beyondblue.org.au | 1300 22 4636 

• ACON Pride Counselling | acon.org.au/support-services/pride-counselling | 1800 063 060 

• Lifeline | www.lifeline.org.au/real-experiences/community-perspectives/LGBTQ+ia-people | 13 11 14 

• Switchboard 

• QLife | qlife.org.au | 1800 184 527 

• Black Rainbow | blackrainbow.org.au 

 

Resources 

Transgender Inclusion 

We are proud to promote equitable opportunities in tennis to ensure all people in Australia, including people who identify as Transgender, Gender Diverse or Non-Binary (henceforth known as the transgender community) can participate in tennis without fear of stigmatisation or discrimination. The purpose of the guidelines is to create awareness and inform clubs, coaches, participants and volunteers on how they can be supportive of people who identify as transgender. This resource also includes tips on how to foster positive experiences for all. 

We thank Pride in Sport and our stakeholders for their support in developing this important resource. 

You can find a copy of the Transgender Inclusion Guidelines for Community Tennis here. 

LGBTQ+ Engagement Guide 

As inclusion is about welcoming and including people from all walks of life, this resource provides insights and tips on how clubs can engage with participants who identify as LGBTQ+. 

This also extends to including volunteers and supporters who also identify as LGBTQ+. 

> VIEW: Tennis Australia’s LGBTQ+ Engagement Guide 

You can also find additional LGBTQ+ resources here:
> Pride in Sport
> Proud2Play
> Pride Cup
> Minus 18
> The Gender Centre
> Trans Hub
 

If you would like more information on how you can participate in LGBTQ+ initiatives, please email [email protected] or visit the Tennis Australia pride webpage for more info.