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One of the last refuges of institutional homophobia takes a giant step into the 21st century on Saturday night with the inaugural AFL Pride Game.St Kildas AFL clash with Sydney will feature rainbow-coloured footballs, 50m arcs and umpire flags in an attempt to win over sexually diverse fans.Its a brave new world for the AFL - given the closest its come to a rainbow-themed game would be when early-era Fremantle in their purple, green and red guernseys hosted the brown and gold-clad Hawthorn.Studies show theres work to be done.The largest research piece into homophobia in sport, the Out on the Fields report released in 2015, paints a frightening picture for lesbian, gay and bisexual sport participants and fans.More than half of respondents believe adult sport is not safe for sexually diverse people and eight in every 10 respondents have seen or felt homophobia in sport.Its why St Kilda chief executive Matt Finnis wants the Pride Game to be embraced, and not just tolerated, by the industry.Tolerance suggests an acceptance, and perhaps a reluctant one.Pride means to celebrate.When you apply the pride label, youre saying its a celebration, he told AAP.Thats important because pride is the opposite of shame.No one should ever feel ashamed to come to the footy and hold their partners hand, or feel uncomfortable because of homophobic language.AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the league was proud to partner in such an important initiative with the two clubs.People are born how theyre born, thats just a fact, and there are some in the community who still might not accept that, he said.If we can play a role with St Kilda and Sydney in calling out that fact and that everyone should be able to be who they want to be.If we can do that through a football game and have the conversation then lets have it.The Pride Game is an adaptation of the grassroots Pride Cup championed by Yarra Glen football club and player Jason Ball.Finnis says AFL players have driven the translation to AFL level.To our younger supporters and players, with an average age in the young 20s, sexual diversity is far more normalised than the generations that have gone before them, he said.From Brock McLean and Dan Jackson being the first players to march at Pride with Jason Ball several years ago now ... to Sam Gilbert fronting this Pride Game this weekend.It would be fair to say players have been at the forefront.Given hundreds of thousands of fans - either at Etihad Stadium or watching on the free-to-air broadcast - will see an AFL match in technicolour like never before, Finnis is expecting some backlash.Its difficult to say what everyones reactions will be, he said.We just hope what we can do through this game is to open peoples eyes to the importance of everyone being welcome.The Pride Game follows in the footsteps of previous social inclusion campaigns, which has championed indigenous players and women in football. 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(STATS) -- For all that Jacksonville State has accomplished on the football field in the recent past and present, the program has just as impressively found a way to remain humbled and focused.I feel good about where we are, third-year coach John Grass said.He certainly should.Grass Gamecocks are 8-1, and at 5-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference, need two more wins to record a third consecutive undefeated league season. Theyve won 22 consecutive OVC games dating to a 52-14 loss at Eastern Illinois on Nov. 16, 2013 -- the nations longest active conference streak. Jacksonville State will also try for its 30th straight regular-season victory over a non-FBS opponent when it visits surging Murray State (4-5, 4-2) on Saturday.Second in the STATS FCS Poll, the Gamecocks sit atop the FCS Championship Committee playoff rankings for a second consecutive week.It is good to have that respect around the country, but we cant let it get in our heads, senior offensive lineman Casey Dunn said. We have to go out there and play our game and hopefully hit our stride going in to the playoffs.But the Gamecocks rarely look ahead.A victory over Murray would give Jacksonville State a share of the league title with second-place UT Martin (6-4, 5-1) waiting to conclude the regular season next weekend.We know what the task is at hand and that is the next game, defensive back Jaylen Hill said.The focus also will be to jump-start an offense that was held to its fewest points against FCS competition all season with last weekends 17-10 win over Southeast Missouri. Jacksonville State did all its scoring in the first half and failed to record at least 400 total yards for the third time in four games.ddddddddddddGood thing the Gamecocks are allowing an FCS-low 253.7 yards per contest and are ninth yielding an average of 17.4 points.That unit could be in for a significant test against the Racers, who have averaged 39.7 points during a three-game winning streak that included victories over then-ranked teams in Eastern Illinois and Tennessee State. Last weekends 41-28 win at Eastern Kentucky marked the first time since 2004 that Murray beat the Colonels on the road.This matchup also pits two of top quarterbacks in FCS in Jacksonville States Eli Jenkins and the Racers KD Humphries. Both seniors also happen to hail from Alabama.Jenkins, who was recruited by Murray State coach Mitch Stewart, has thrown for a school-record 7,147 yards in his career. Humphries is fourth in OVC history with 70 touchdown passes -- 20 of which hes thrown this season -- and has a big fan in Grass.Its fun to see an Alabama guy go there and see the success that he has had, Grass said. He does a good job of making decisions, he knows where he is going with the ball, he gets the ball out quickly and protects the football. He is a good football player and our defense has their work cut out for them it week.Jacksonville State is 11-2 all-time against the Racers, who last won four in a row in 2004. ' ' '