The Pride House Podcast

A new frontier? Jamaica, sports and LGBTQ+ visibility, with Michael Gunning and J-FLAG

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Episode notes

Jamaica's biggest sporting stars are household names - legends, even - and there's an exciting new breed of athletes coming through too.

At the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, you can expect the team to again place in the upper reaches of the medal table - impressive for a nation with a population of under 3 million and a relatively low GDP per capita.

On this fourth episode of the Pride House Podcast, we ask if Jamaica's ongoing success in track and field and other sports could open up opportunities for visible allyship - something that would certainly be a fillip for J-FLAG, the country's biggest LGBTQ+ advocacy organisation.

Joining host Jon Holmes to discuss the topic is Michael Gunning, who after six years representing the country on the international stage is now retiring from competitive swimming.

Michael reflects on the concerns he had about Jamaican attitudes while growing up and before he made the switch to swim in the black, yellow and green. He also describes how he felt embraced and supported by so many team-mates, staff and fans, even if the "slow burn" of change in attitudes is often frustrating.

For the view from Jamaica itself, J-FLAG's executive director Glenroy Murray is with us to provide an overview of his organisation's 24-year history and their current strategy. He explains the need for patience while campaigning for equality in countries like his homeland, and why sports represents "a new frontier" in terms of LGBTQ+ visibility. He also recommends playing dancehall music loud and proud at Pride House Birmingham this summer!

Helping to keep our conversation focused on that next generation of Jamaican athletes is our third guest, Orlando Pearce, who has worked in youth advocacy with J-FLAG and other organisations and has a background in netball and badminton. There are challenges just in participation for LGBTQ+ youth, let alone having out sportspeople at an elite level - Orlando talks about what he's learned from his experience as a sports administrator.

Follow the links for more info. If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know!

Michael Gunning on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/michaelgunning1

J-FLAG website - https://www.equalityjamaica.org/

Pride House Birmingham - https://pridehousebham.org.uk/

Music credit: Song: MusicbyAden - Freedom. Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music. Creative Commons - Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. Video Link: https://youtu.be/AUQE67tap_E