Former AFLW star Moana Hope says she will publicly identify a recently retired women’s footballer who allegedly sent her a homophobic message unless the player reports herself to her club by Friday.
Hope, who is openly gay, said the former player took one of her Instagram images and captioned it with a homophobic slur and laughing emojis.
However, instead of sending it to the intended recipient, the former AFLW player sent it back to Hope.
Now Hope has reported the player and given her until Friday to reveal herself to her former club, or she will make their identity known.
‘I’m going to unblock her,’ Hope told her followers on Tuesday.
‘I’m going to send her this story, but I’m not going to say anything else.
Former AFLW star Moana Hope revealed an ex-player added a homophobic caption and laughing emojis to this image
Instead of sending the captioned image to the intended recipient, the player sent it back to Hope
‘And I’m going to give her the opportunity to go into the club that she’s affiliated with, and she can tell them herself.’
The former AFLW forward said the woman has been given a deadline to take responsibility.
‘She has ’til Friday to do that, and if she doesn’t, then we’ll revisit the whole not publicly outing her, because she needs to take responsibility,’ Hope said.
Hope explained that she immediately realised something was wrong when she received the direct message, which allegedly included a homophobic caption attached to a photo of her.
‘First of all, she didn’t mean to send it to me,’ Hope said.
‘She took my story that’s currently up and she was clearly trying to send it to somebody else, who’s probably also homophobic. And what she said was incredibly hurtful.’
The 38-year-old said she managed to screenshot the message before the sender quickly deleted it.
‘I screenshotted it. And the crazy thing is, she quickly then unsent it, but I had already screenshotted it.’
Hope said the player has until Friday to report to her former club or she will reveal her identity
Hope said she responded directly before blocking the account.
‘I said, “Whatever you’re dealing with and whatever hurt has caused you to be so mean and a bully, is not welcome here. You don’t even follow me. And I hope you find your peace”.’
The former footballer later posted the same photo publicly on Instagram along with a message condemning the behaviour.
‘I didn’t think homophobia had a place in AFLW, but apparently I was wrong,’ she wrote.
‘A player and someone who is connected to a Victorian AFLW club thought it was appropriate to share this photo with a homophobic caption and laughing emojis.’
She added that if the photo was going to circulate privately, she might as well post it herself.
‘So in light of that behaviour, I figured I’d put it on the grid myself. If they’re going to share my photos, it might as well assist with my Instagram numbers and views.’
Hope confirmed she plans to escalate the issue.
Hope, who played 20 AFLW games before injury contributed to her retirement in 2019, has been a regular target of homophobic abuse
‘On a serious note, I am reporting her. There is no place for homophobia in this world.’
Hope finished the post with a message supporting LGBTQI+ people.
‘Gay love is love and there is nothing wrong with being gay and being exactly who you are.’
The incident is the latest example of abuse the former AFLW star says she has faced during and after her playing career.
Hope, who played 20 games for Collingwood and North Melbourne between 2017 and 2019, said she frequently receives hateful messages online.
In August last year, she also spoke out about what she described as ‘vile and disgusting’ abuse during a local women’s football match in Melbourne’s Essendon District Football League.
She said opposition players and spectators directed relentless personal attacks toward her throughout the qualifying final, with one rival allegedly threatening her with physical violence.
Hope said a spectator also spent the entire match shouting insults within earshot of her children and family members.
‘The things that he was saying were vile and disgusting, and nothing short of just a personal attack on me,’ she said at the time.
