MELBOURNE, Australia — Most weekends, in stadiums across Australia, thousands of spectators line the stands to take in the Australian Football League. And on most weekends, they can see Sam Gilbert, a defender with the St. Kilda Saints, arrive for match day wearing a rainbow-striped gay pride beanie.

Mr. Gilbert, 30, epitomizes the modern A.F.L. player: tall and athletic — and mindful of equality. He’s straight, but he joins a pride march every year.

“I want to help,” he said after a recent practice. “I want to be a straight ally and be a voice.”

On Saturday, St. Kilda played in its second annual pride match: an awareness-raising game heavily featuring the signature pride rainbow, including on each player’s uniform. It is just one example of how the A.F.L. — one of the top sports leagues in the world in terms of average attendance, roughly on par with American baseball — has tried to present itself as a force for inclusion.

By some estimates, almost half of the league’s fans are women, and over the past few years, the league has introduced events and matches that raise awareness of breast cancer as well as gay pride, and also celebrate the country’s Indigenous and multicultural populations.