“YOU’VE got to find your own people.”
Fortunate to have found support, in part due to women’s football, Gab Pound has opened up on afl.womens' 'Unfiltered' on her own personal coming out story.
Joining broadcaster Chyloe Kurdas, GWS defender Katherine Smith and Collingwood captain (plus former teammate) Brianna Davey, Pound rawly articulated her journey and how a supportive environment allowed her to flourish in her own skin.
“I guess maybe I was questioning the possibility of it later in my teenage years,” Pound said.
“It didn’t really affect me that much. I just went with the flow with everything: I was okay with that, and I am okay with that.
“I’m pretty grateful to have that, knowing that it’s probably an abnormal coming out story.”
While Pound is grateful that the people close to her were accepting, being different to those around her during her teenage years wasn’t always smooth sailing.
“I wore traditionally male clothes growing up: t-shirts, board shorts, whatever it was. I had short hair. I think it was that assumption that people have for you, that society has for you,” she said.
“I didn’t care growing up, but as soon as the teenage years hit, I kind of didn’t feel that comfortable. Not being accepted for who you are - for dressing how you want and being how you want - I think is pretty crushing.
“I feel sad for my younger self, but I’m also grateful for what I’ve gone through and the support I’ve had along the way, because that would be so hard for people to not have the support they need, that they should have."
This weekend marks AFLW Pride Round in which Carlton will host a fixture for the first time, on a weekend where IKON Park will take centre stage with three games to be played at the venue across two days.
Having made the move from Albury to Melbourne to chase a football dream, Pound found solace in the community she discovered prior to arriving as an inaugural Game Changer.
“I moved to Melbourne when I was 18 and found a football team. I found a group of people that were so like-minded and had such similar upbringings and stories to tell. It was comfortable.
“The environment I was in allowed me to do that. That’s the beautiful thing about women’s football in particular.
“It was a bunch of people who were kind of misfits or had similar stories — it created this comfort and environment that was so supportive. It allowed people to explore the different, non-binary ways of living.”
And while not everyone on the journey may have shown that same support, through that community, Pound has been able to embody her true self.
“There are always going to be people who won’t accept you for you, but they’re not in your corner."
