With Braddon’s same-sex pedestrian traffic lights and rainbow-painted roundabout, it’s hard to believe that homosexuality was ever illegal in the ACT, but it was in my lifetime.
That’s why Canberra’s Pink Tennis – Australia’s oldest continuing openly gay and lesbian tennis club – is such an enduring testament to the fight for equality.
In the ACT, homosexuality wasn’t legalised until 1976 and Pink Tennis – the Canberra Gay and Lesbian Tennis Club, was established shortly after in 1978. The club is not just about improving your serve, it’s about social support for the local LGBTIQA+ community.
Even in 2024, when we now have marriage equality (Canberra had the highest vote nationally), members of the LGBTIQA+ say they still feel ostracised in some sporting clubs.
Treasurer of Pink Tennis, Michael Jorgensen, said it was important to have a Tennis club – and sporting clubs more broadly – exclusively for the LGBTIQA+ community.
“Even in 2024, members of our community are disenfranchised from participation in sport,” Michael said. “Having a club like ours makes sure that people can play in a safe and welcoming environment.”
Pink Tennis fosters not only tennis players of all abilities but also a strong sense of community. For the past 40 years, Pink Tennis has hosted an annual bushdance fundraiser at Yarralumla Woolshed and in the past 20 years has given grants of up to $2,000 to other LGBTIQA+ groups, such as Canberra Frontrunners, Rainbow Racquets Squash, Capital Queers and Campberra.
“There were a handful of people involved in the beginning, around six people,” Michael said. “What started as a group of friends getting together to play tennis on a Monday night has turned into a community-focused club, which actively supports local LGBTIQA+ sports and community groups.”
Every Monday night, year-round at Turner Tennis Courts, Pink Tennis attracts up to 25 players regularly and its Facebook page has more than 900 members.
In a fun twist, Pink Tennis has just partnered with Canberra boutique distillery, Underground Spirits, and Tennis ACT to launch its own gin. Tennis can be thirsty work.
The personalised gin will be named ‘Let’s Get Loud(ish)’, and it will be launched at the end of October, just in time for the Pink Tennis bushdance on 16 November. Cheers to that.
“It is definitely more than just sport,” Michael said. “We often sit down and have a chat and once a month we have dinner together – after tennis of course. The main benefits are community. The club provides a space for us to have fun and play a sport we love or at least grow to love.”
In January 2025, Pink Tennis will host its first tennis tournament with the global Gay and Lesbian Tennis Association.
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