ASB CEO Barbara Chapman says financial considerations should never be a factor for an athlete deciding whether to be open with their sexuality. The bank which sponsors New Zealand’s gay rugby team says it’s wrong for athletes to feel like they have to hide their sexuality because of fears they will lose sponsorship. NZ Falcons’ key sponsor ASB has responded to reports Australian swimming great Ian Thorpe contemplated coming out prior to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but decided against it because of the detrimental financial consequences suffered by other gay sportspeople. “It’s wrong that modern athletes continue to feel the need to hide their sexuality due to fears over the potential impact on their commercial sponsorship arrangements,” says ASB Chief Executive Barbara Chapman. Chapman says ASB sponsors individuals and teams because it’s proud of what they do and we will continue to do so irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity. “Financial considerations should never be a factor for an athlete deciding whether to be open with their sexuality. “Openly gay role models are few and far between in sport. It’s important then that corporate sponsors like ASB articulate clearly that factors such as sexuality, gender identity, race or ethnicity will have no bearing on sponsorship contracts,” Ms Chapman says. “With this in mind, I think it is incumbent on all corporate sponsors to state their commitment to diversity in all their sponsorship contracts.” ASB will be including clauses in all sponsorship contracts affirming its commitment to diversity.It's also signed up to the Rainbow Tick process.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 14th July 2014 - 4:33pm