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Mitch Brown on finding a safe space to share his story with the short film For the Boys
In 2025, in an interview with Sam Koslowski of The Daily Aus, Mitch Brown became the first openly bisexual footy player in Australia. To give some perspective, the VFL was founded in 1896. That's 129 years since the V/AFL commenced that a current or former footy player felt safe enough to share their story.
Over the past year, Mitch has become an advocate for queer voices, speaking about his experiences with biphobia and raising awareness of the impact of homophobia in the league and society. Across social media and in interviews, Mitch has talked extensively about the brutish masculinity of the football world and how masculinity in society can be better.
As someone who devoutly follows the AFL and as someone who seeks out and aims to support queer stories in Australia, it both moved me and shocked me that Mitch Brown was the first AFL player ever to share their sexuality. In the AFLW, that openness was part of the foundation of the league back in 2017, with the first Pride round being held in 2018.
It then moved me to see Mitchell Withers tender documentary For the Boys feature as part of the Footy Shorts lineup at the Melbourne International Film Festival. This considerate short follows moments in Mitch's life; we see moments with his sons, or the steps he takes to reconnect with the sport he loves by playing with a queer football team, or, maybe most powerfully, we're invited to simply reflect on what living life as a proud bisexual person looks like.
It feels like, after a year of explaining biphobia or fielding invasive questions about partners and what happens in the bedroom, that Mitch Brown is now able to step into the life he's always meant to live.
In this interview with Mitch, he talks about what made Sam Koslowski a person he felt was safe enough to come out to, and by extension, why Mitchell Withers and producer Sofia Viegas were the right people to share his story on film. He talks about his journey into football and finding community after his football career had finished.
This is a deep, honest, open interview. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did recording it.
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