Meet Andy Haden. Andy is from New Zealand. Unlike the last Kiwi we had cause to examine in Banterwatch, however, Andy isn't in politics. Andy is famous for carrying a ball from one end of the pitch to another. Or rather, that's what he was famous for. His ball-carrying days behind him, Andy seems to have taken up a new career in professional douchery.
The most recent effusion from Andy's nozzle came in response to a new study, Out On the Fields, which surveyed gay and lesbian athletes and found that 80% had witnessed or experienced homophobic actions in sports, with 19% of gay men and 9% of lesbians reporting being physically assaulted, and at least 82% of respondents saying they'd heard anti-gay slurs. Unsurprisingly, these experiences led them to stay closeted, with 48% of gay men and 32% of lesbians hiding their sexuality because they feared the response from their teammates, and 31% of gay men and 15% of lesbians worried about discrimination from coaches or officials.
A pretty damning indictment of homophobia in the sporting world there, you might think. But Andy has a different take: yes, according to Andy, all those homophobic slurs and physical assaults are just banter.
It turns out, though, that it isn't just homophobia in sports that Andy Haden has opinions about. Haden has previously referred to Pacific Islands rugby players as 'darkies', and has dabbled in rape apologism as well, saying that women raped by sportsmen 'are targeting rugby players...and they do so at their peril'. What a charmer!
Andy Haden, then, is a man who throws around racial slurs, thinks rape victims are asking for it, and considers homophobia harmless bantz. So, Andy, this one's for you:
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