Key Points
- Adelaide United footballer Grace Wilson has spoken about gender identity and what it means to be non-binary.
- Wilson said they had not had many role models in professional sport while growing up.
- They said they wanted to help others who may be considering their own gender identity.
Adelaide United goalkeeper Grace Wilson is Australia's first openly non-binary professional footballer and hopes they can help improve understanding about gender identity in sport.
Wilson shared publicly on Friday they were non-binary.
The 18-year-old told the ABC they wanted to be honest about their identity and had struggled with being misgendered.
"It's just being able to be honest with everyone around me," they said.
"And for the last year and a bit I haven't been and it's really difficult to navigate when you're constantly being misgendered," they said.
Wilson said they had faced homophobia in the past as an openly queer athlete.
"Growing up, I faced some homophobia within teams, because I was one of the first openly queer people on my team.
"There aren't that many role models I had growing up, and there aren't that many openly non-binary players in professional sport.
"It's really important to have people out there who are open and honest about their experiences because I just learned so much."
Wilson said they hoped they could help other LGBTIQ+ athletes to feel included and celebrate their identity.
"Education and understanding is paramount," they said.
"You can't change the fact that I play on a women's team and I don't identify as a woman, but what we can change is the language you use around it.
"I just hope through me coming out, it's something for myself but also something for other people who may be considering their gender."
Last year, Canadian footballer Quinn became the first transgender, non-binary athlete to play in a World Cup when they competed in the FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
What does non-binary mean?
Non-binary refers to people who do not relate to being either exclusively male or female.
Someone who is non-binary may feel like a mixture, somewhere in between the two, or may feel that they have no gender at all.
In a video shared by Adelaide United and Pride Cup, Wilson said their perception of gender "does not fit" the traditional definitions of man or woman.
Grace Wilson of Adelaide United is Australia's first non-binary professional footballer. Source: AAP / Will Murray
"Other non-binary people may feel between, or they may feel a bit of both, or they may have that fluidity where they flow (between).
"It's really important to understand that every non-binary person experiences this differently and they will all have their own stories and they will all feel it some way differently."
Wilson, who uses they/them pronouns, said it is important to use the correct pronouns when speaking to people.
"Not every non-binary person is going to use they/them, they might have no preference with pronouns, they might use any.
"It's a really important thing; you don't realise how much of a difference it makes.
"I didn't realise, but finally hearing people refer to me as they/them is this phenomenal, euphoric feeling."
