Cricketer Alex Blackwell opens up about being profiled as a “predator” due to her sexuality

“I have felt profiled because I’m a lesbian”

Alex Blackwell sat down with The Guardian and talked about her experience being an out lesbian in the Cricket world.

Speaking on the sports view of lesbian players Blackwell states: “Their concern is that poor behavior in women’s sport is by the lesbians.”

“I have felt profiled because I’m a lesbian, profiled as a predator. Lesbians in sport have been profiled as predators. That Is very hurtful and I’m tired of that,” she continued.

In 2013 Blackwell made history as the first international female cricket player to come out.

The former player continued to discuss the unfair perception lesbian players get, stating: “It’s unfair to profile a group of people as good or bad based on a characteristic like sexuality or skin colour or religion […] becasue perceptions of what goes on in team sports where there are lesbians doesn’t match reality.”

The sports industry has long been criticised for its treatment of the LGBTQ+ community. The rampant homophobia from both fans and players have been viewed as reasons why there are hardly any out and active LGBTQ+ players.

Blackwell also discusses how the outlook towards the LGBTQ+ community has been “damaging” for her, stating: “No wonder no one’s really tackled it very well because it’s sensitive and we fear offending each other.”

She continued: “I do feel like the thing that’s damaging for me has not been the talk within teams; it’s the attitudes I observe and the comments I hear from administrators who seem to have concern.”

When looking to the future the 37-year-old hopes that teams and their players have more of an open dialogue concerning the LGBTQ+ community.

“I believe it’s unfounded, but it’s a real concern for them, and so we need to continue to have the conversations in respectful ways to understand what their concerns are and then go about trying to quantify the issue before we try and tackle it

“[…] lets try to focus on the common goals, which is more girls and women playing sport and having a wonderful experience,” she says.