For inclusivity advocate Martin Stark, boxing isn’t just a man’s sport — it’s for everyone, including the LGBTIQ+ community. That is why Martin, who’s currently training at the Fit Fighters Club in Bondi Junction, will be participating in the World Gay Boxing Championships.
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The World Gay Boxing Championships is a not-for-profit organisation where all boxing fans come together for one goal, and that is to showcase boxing as welcoming to all genders and sexualities.
One of the reasons he started WGBC is to fight homophobia in sport. A research by Out on The Fields revealed 80% of people in Australia have either witnessed or experienced homophobia in sport, with 75% believing that an openly gay person would not be safe as a spectator at a sporting event.
Martin’s journey with boxing started in 2018 following a near-death experience in 2017. He suffered from multiple health scares, including pancreatitis, collapsed lungs, a tracheostomy, and two induced comas as a result of his Addison’s disease.
As a way of combating post-traumatic stress disorder, he went on to try self-defence classes which included boxing. He recalled seeing boxing as a “barbaric” sport but he now credits it for helping him recover both mentally and physically.
Now, Martin is getting ready for the world’s first LGBTQI+ boxing tournament, which will be held at the Randwick Racecourse in February 2023. At present, there are already more than 70 competitors who expressed their interest in joining the event. The event will be gender inclusive, with trans, non-binary, and intersex boxers of all levels welcome to compete.
Coinciding with the Sydney World Pride in early 2023, Martin expects the tournament will be as colourful, as flamboyant, and as glittery as the Mardi Gras.
Martin simply loves boxing and wanted to give back to the sport and LGBTQ community by providing an opportunity for people to participate and compete in a safe and friendly environment.