Ex Brisbane Lions star Leigh Ryswyk becomes the first AFL player to come out as gay

Former Brisbane Lions player Leigh Ryswyk has publicly come out as gay, becoming the first male player in AFL history to do so.

The 41-year-old shared the news during an appearance on the GayFL programme on Melbourne LGBTQ+ station JOY 94.9, where he confirmed he had been out to close friends for five years prior to speaking publicly. 

Ryswyk played one AFL match for Brisbane in 2005, recording four disposals in a win over Fremantle. A quad injury later that season prevented him from adding to that appearance, and he was subsequently delisted. 

“The people who are nearest and closest to me know, and that’s what’s most important” – Leigh Ryswyk on privately coming out five years ago

He later moved to South Australia, where he spent more than a decade with North Adelaide in the SANFL, playing 226 league games and earning life membership. His final season ended with a reserves premiership in 2018 after returning from a rib injury late in the year. 

Speaking on air, Ryswyk said his decision to come out publicly reflected his personal circumstances.

“There will be people though, if they do listen to this, it will be the first time they know about this; I’m a very private person, so it’s not all over my social media, and things like that, and that’s fine,” he explained.

“It can be a bit of a shock to some people, they might not know what, but that’s life right? In the end, the people who are nearest and closest to me know, and that’s what’s most important.”

He also described the process of coming out to his parents, which he said took place over several years.

Mitch Brown became the AFL’s first openly bisexual male player in 2025

“When you come our to your family it’s always a massive experience, there’s a lot of things going on in your head… it took me a little while where I was comfortable enough to do this, probably a three-year period to be honest, so there was a lot of the mental side of things going through at the same time,” he said.

“I had the opportunity to sit down with mum and talk to her about it, and let her know, which was massive. She obviously was crying, I was crying, and she goes ‘I still love you’, so for me, that was a wow moment.

“Then opening up to your dad… now that experience was one of the biggest things for me, but his reaction was something that blew me away, to be honest. I really didn’t know what to expect, but he was like, ‘I love you, it doesn’t matter, as long as you’re happy I’m happy for you’, that blew me away to be honest.”

His announcement follows former West Coast player Mitch Brown, who became the AFL’s first openly bisexual male player in 2025.