Shae Bolton-Brown’s heartfelt message to Mitch Brown after he became first AFL player to come out as bisexual

Former elite netballer Shae Bolton-Brown says she “couldn’t be prouder” of her ex-husband and co-parent Mitch Brown after he became the first past or present AFL player to publicly identify as bisexual. In a lengthy Instagram post, Bolton-Brown shared how the pair met as teenage professional athletes and bonded over their similarities, which included a shared sense of weirdness and both being “a little bit queer.” “We spent over 16 years building a life, making a family and finding comfort in leaning into that weirdness,” she said of her relationship with the former West Coast Eagles player. Bolton-Brown, who played for the West Coast Fever and is now general manager of Super Netball team the Melbourne Mavericks, said what Brown did for the AFL and Australian culture was “Maverick to the core.” “I for one couldn’t be prouder of Mitch and will celebrate his vulnerability loudly so hopefully those baby athletes currently playing in the AFL feel seen and safe and can be every little bit of their weird . . . and so our kids can too,” she wrote. She detailed the couple’s similarities, including “Both living away from family, Victorians living in Perth . . . both striving for high performance perfection . . . both under scrutiny for performance, weekly.” “Both built our identities around being ‘the netballer and the footballer.’ Both performed these prepackaged identities, to the detriment, perhaps, of healthy youthful self discovery,” she wrote. “And both a little bit queer.” She then went on to outline their differences, including the income, media scrutiny and cultures that came with their chosen sports. “The blaring discrepancy for me, mostly, netball was a place of safety. For Mitch, mostly, football was not,” she wrote. “Home for us was each other. Our place, where we could be ourselves as we navigated our twenties, challenging each other and lifting each other up.” Bolton-Brown, who shares two sons with her ex-husband, then revealed how in 2023 he encouraged her to put her hand up to run Super Netball’s new team. The pair envisaged what “the perfect club would look like”. “A place of inclusivity, a place to be boldly you (unapologetically), a place where your strengths were celebrated and your heart was protected,” she wrote. “Because here’s the thing: sport has a secret power. It can be a source of joy and belonging, and in a world that could do with a little more of both, that’s enough to get me out of bed in the morning.” Brown has been widely praised since his announcement in late August, saying at the time he hoped to inspire a national movement “where you can be anyone and be safe in any environment.” LGBTIQA+ advocates labelled his bravery a historic moment for the country and the league, which just last month faced another homophobia scandal. Brown, who played 94 games for the Eagles between 2007 and 2016, said he decided to “own who I am and my identity” to pave the way for others. “What matters to me most is a sense of change, a movement created where you can be anyone and feel like you can be anyone and be safe in any environment here in Australia,” he told The Daily Aus. “Hopefully this now provides (that) for the second person.”