Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sharni Williams OAM has been recognised for her leadership, awarded the LGBTQ Out Role Model Award at the Pride in Sport Awards.

The awards, held on Wednesday night in Melbourne, celebrate athletes, clubs and organisations for LGBTQ inclusion. 

Launched in 2018, the Australian Pride in Sport Awards is the first celebration of its kind dedicated solely to celebrating and acknowledging exceptional efforts in making Australian sport more inclusive of LGBTQ people.  

It is produced by Pride in Sport, the national not-for-profit sporting inclusion program spearheaded by Australia’s largest LGBTQ health organisation, ACON. 

For Williams, Rugby has always been a game where she feels the most comfortable about who she is. 

But the Olympic and world cup champion’s roaring self-confidence was almost shattered after a workplace incident left her deeply unsettled. 

“Sharni has never actively hidden who she is,” Williams’s wife Mel Smale told the audience at the Pride in Sports Awards. 

“However, in 2019, that feeling of acceptance was threatened when she was impacted by hate speech in the workplace.” 

But it was the decisive action Williams’s employer took that changed her outlook on the world. 

“This was the catalyst that led her to look within and realise she had to stand up and be a voice.” 

The openly lesbian rugby champion has been recognised for her work in promoting LGBTQI inclusion on the sporting field, receiving the LGBTQ Out Role Model Award. 

“You can’t be what you can’t see so having that visibility is huge to make people recognise that there’s a place for them,” Williams said from France where she is in competition. 

“It’s nice to be recognised. But at the same time I’m just going out there being me and creating a safe space for other people.” 

Williams has put her name to causes such as trans inclusion in rugby and standing up against intolerance following the Manly Sea Eagles pride jersey controversy. 

She came out during the Tokyo Olympics after donning her now iconic rainbow headgear, which she also wore during the Birmingham 2022 Games. 

Congratulations to all finalists and recipients.  

2023 Pride in Sport Awards Recipients