“It speaks volumes that there's not a current player in any of the major football codes that is openly gay,” says rugby union player David Pocock. David Pocock, an ambassador for Athlete Ally, which aims to end homophobia in sport said, “We have a long way to go”. “It speaks volumes that there's not a current [male] player in any of the major football codes that is openly gay,” he said. “There are a number of closeted athletes out there who aren't comfortable with being themselves and that's an indictment on all of us. That's something that's got to change over the next few years." Negative financial implications for gay or lesbian athletes coming out is undoubtedly an issue.

Negative financial implications for gay or lesbian athletes coming out are undoubtedly an issue. As Thorpe said in his interview with Parkinson, “You hear these remarks and things around someone’s career that marketability and things like that kept me in this lie, that became a convenient lie for me to not accept it because I wasn’t accepting it in myself.” I've been as cynical as the next person, but to accuse or berate Thorpe for lying about his sexuality for so long for financial motives is categorically unfair. It is also unfair to claim some kind of impropriety in using a paid interview to come out, when the reality is his potential future earnings could be greatly hindered by his sexuality. We need to question why there is still a financial disincentive for being publicly gay or lesbian.

Disregarding the fact there are lucrative sporting markets, such as Russia, with draconian anti-gay laws and ultra-conservative views which could restrict "out" LGBT athletes, there are issues at home. Not only do we need to call out homophobia when we see it, we need to encourage companies to choose and define their ambassadors by their achievements and their popularity among the majority who don’t care if Thorpie is gay. When Ricky Ponting or James O’Connor spruik a vitamin, it’s not because they’re straight that we remember the product's name and consider buying it. But LGBT athletes have - in the past at least - struggled to attract sponsors. Matthew Mitcham became the golden boy of the pool – albeit the lower-profile diving pool – when he won Olympic gold in the 10m platform dive in Beijing in 2008.

But as an openly gay man, he said, “I haven't had any companies rushing to sponsor me." It took a year before Telstra signed him up. In women’s sport, where there is less taboo around homosexuality, the sparse sponsorship money overwhelmingly flows to the girls who project a straight, feminine image. On surfing website The Inertia, Sydney writer Claire Sullivan last year wrote about the struggles of lesbian surfers on the pro-tour. "Femininity and heterosexuality remain pre-determinants of sponsorship and media attention,” she wrote after talking with a number of them. The tide is shifting though, and now is the time for Australian business to move with it and lead the way in community attitudes. In America, NBA player Jason Collins came out in the 2013 off-season, becoming the first openly gay player in the NBA when he later signed with the Brooklyn Nets.

Nike quickly signed him up, having reportedly already told clubs they were actively looking to sign up the first player to publicly come out. The company had already signed Brittney Griner, the slam dunking number one pick in the 2013 WNBA draft after she spoke about being gay in Sports Illustrated. The move seemed a smart one when Collins featured on the cover of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World" edition in April, a month before Michael Sam became the first openly gay NFL player when he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams. Now is the time for Australian companies to celebrate diversity too. As Pocock said, "It's not the responsibility of gay athletes to out themselves, it's about people involved in sport, and the wider community, making an environment for them to feel comfortable to be themselves.”