A Long Journey to Eastbourne
With me (right) being the board member who lives furthest north, you may be forgiven for thinking that the title of this blog relates to the long car journey from my home town of Newcastle to the south coast for LTA’s final Friday Pride Day at Rothesay International in Eastbourne - and what a week to have the biggest national train strike!
However, I am actually referring to the eight-year mission I have been on to ensure that the sport I love engages in LGBTQ+ visibility and activation.
I first discussed the common barriers for LGBTQ+ people in sport with LTA officials in 2014. After years of the governing body not listening, responding or acting, I finally had a breakthrough in 2020 when the Chief Executive, Scott Lloyd, wrote an open letter declaring that the LTA had “not done enough to open tennis up to people from minority backgrounds” and inviting people to respond. This got me the foot in the door that I needed. After several meetings with senior officials who listened intently, I felt that a change in attitude and culture was under way.
Listening is not always followed by action. However, the LTA responded positively by hosting our official launch in February 2022 at the National Tennis Centre, swiftly followed by all the activation around their “Friday Pride Days” grass court campaign. Pride in Tennis were consulted on every aspect - from the design of the LTA Pride logo to the networking events with local LGBTQ+ activists.
Sat at the side of Centre Court in Eastbourne, I watched our Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Malcolm Bryant, being interviewed on court with the Progress Flag in the background and ball kids heading into position with their rainbow sweatbands, ready for Petra Kvitova and Beatriz Haddad Maia to begin their semi-finals battle. It made me nearly overwhelmed with emotion as I realised that, despite the miles of setbacks, delays and excuses driven by stigma and ignorance, I had finally arrived at a destination tennis can be proud of.
About the author - Ian Pearson-Brown (he/him) is the Founder and Co-Chair of Pride In Tennis. A tennis coach by profession, he was named Durham & Cleveland Development Coach of the Year 2021. Ian is an extremely passionate activist for LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport. In addition to leading Pride in Tennis, he also sits on the committee of United with Pride, the LGBTQ+ supporters’ network for Newcastle United Football Club.