Trailblazing footballer Zander Murray brings LGBTQ+ inclusion work to University of the Highlands and Islands campus and north club
Trailblazing footballer Zander Murray visited the north of Scotland to deliver two talks on homophobia in the sport, and how to make sports clubs more inclusive, this week.
Since then, he has turned advocacy into his full-time job alongside playing, delivering talks to schools, football academies and community groups off the pitch while continuing to star on it.
The latest stop in his tour brought Mr Murray to Elgin to speak at UHI Moray and Borough Briggs, with an eager audience of students, staff, sports clubs representatives and councillors attending across the two sessions.
They heard the 33-year-old discuss the impact homophobia – both internal and external – has had on his life, how he struggled with mental health and suicidal thoughts and how coming out changed his life for the better.
Those talks helped to launch the Moray Pride Sport Inclusion Hub, a joint effort from Moray Council’s sports development team, the Highlands and Islands Student Association and Scotland’s LGBTQ+ sports charity Leap Sports which was created last year.
Having now completed over 50 such talks, Mr Murray is no stranger to sharing his story, but he is still conscious of the potential impact that doing so in more rural areas can have on local LGBTQ+ populations.
“It’s a real privilege, especially in rural areas, to be able to share that lived experience,” he said.
“Some people don’t have many people from the queer community that they can look up to and see on a daily basis, so it was a real pleasure to come up and support this really important cause.
“I think that the amount of messages I get, and even a couple of letters that I’ve had, from people who live in rural areas shows that there are other challenges that people from big cities don’t have to deal with.
“There aren’t a lot of queer spaces here compared to places like Glasgow and Edinburgh, so it’s really nice to come up here and share my story, and connect with people and relate to them.
“Equally, it’s great to hear the amazing things that are happening up here as well. Pride In Moray has been going for a couple of years, and I think the sport inclusion hub is an amazing initiative that will make the area a lot more inclusive.
“I’ve always been passionate about trying to win over hearts and minds. It can be difficult in some areas, just because I haven’t seen many people from that community, but it’s a real privilege.”
That idea of “hearts and minds” underpins all of the work that Mr Murray does by opening up about his struggles with his sexuality.
He is well aware of just how life-changing a single conversation with a single person can be, and he takes nothing for granted now that he is in a position to be giving that advice rather than leaning on someone else for support.
“I’ve always said that if I can help one person who is struggling, then that means the world to me because I know first-hand what that feels like,” he said.
“For me, it’s about trying to bridge some gaps with the mainstream in our community.
“The current climate is all about hate and division, causing arguments, and if I can help my own community’s lives on a day-to-day basis from speaking to them, relating to them and giving them a bit of solace, that’s what I want to do.
“It’s an absolute honour to be able to give back. I lost 16 years of my life through struggling with my sexuality, so to now be able to give back and help others is incredible.
“Being able to be here, and be present, means a lot to me, and hopefully it means a lot to the people here as well.”
