Pro basketball club helping send LGBTQ teams to Gay Games
The Melbourne United are assisting their local LGBTQ partner, the Melbourne Spectres, in their journey to the Gay Games this June.
Mark
LGBTQ basketball team Melbourne Spectres says it “means the world” to have strong support from professional club Melbourne United, the six-time champions of Australia‘s National Basketball League.
Following the announcement in January of an official community partnership between United and the Spectres, the NBL side is again showing additional strong support, via a special end-of-season Pride Month auction.
All the proceeds raised from the auction will go towards sending the Spectres to the 2026 Gay Games in Valencia, Spain, which begins June 27.
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Unique memorabilia, including game-worn jerseys and signed equipment, are being made available to fans who want to own a piece of United club history while also supporting a worthy cause.
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For Melbourne Spectres president Connor Wilson, attending the Gay Games in Valencia for the first time represents a dream come true.
“It’s awesome to have the opportunity to go and play with people from all around the world who value inclusion and that champion diversity within sport,” Wilson told the United website.
“We’re getting to wear the green and gold, which is something anyone who plays sport always has a little bit of a dream to wear. It’s a fantastic opportunity to do that, I honestly cannot wait.”
Travel and registration costs are a significant hurdle for the Spectres, of which the Melbourne branch is one of six across Australia, alongside others in Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Cairns.
As an association competing in Valencia, the Spectres aims to field three all-gender teams, a Masters team (35 years and over), and two women’s teams.
The Melbourne Spectres partnership is a natural step for Melbourne United, a club that has consistently led the way in promoting LGBTQ inclusion within the NBL.
In November 2022, the club gained international praise for its unwavering support of former player Isaac Humphries.
When Humphries came out publicly as gay, becoming the only out gay player in a top-tier men’s pro basketball league at the time, United stood firmly behind him, fostering an environment of safety and acceptance.
For the NBL’s Pride Round in February, the players took to the court in jerseys showing a rainbow band and the Progress Pride flag.
Head coach Dean Vickerman, who has just announced he is departing United after nine years at the helm, said at the time: “These uniforms present an opportunity to shine a light on the importance of inclusion within sport.
“I know from our experience with Isaac Humphries how important things like Pride Round and Pride uniforms are to make people feel included and safe within sport.”
For Wilson and the Melbourne Spectres, it’s a feeling of immense gratitude.
“The partnership that the Spectres has with United has worked so well, and it’s such an important partnership because we really share the same values of inclusion,” they said.
“I know that inclusion is one of the core values of United and it’s really nice to see an organisation like them really, live it, see it and breathe it.
“It means the world to us, it really shows the true essence of belonging within a sport.”
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