Sydney—More Australian corporates will be showing their true colours this Friday evening in Sydney at a #RainbowLaces Gala Dinner being hosted by the world’s largest law firm Dentons in conjunction with SKINS and Pride in Sport.

Gala Dinner serves as the launch of both SKINS second #RainbowLaces campaign and Dentons GLOW network.

The #RainbowLaces initiative is the brainchild of Australian sportswear company SKINS, inspired by a similar campaign in England, focussed on a Rainbow Round of Sport from April 6-9. The Australian #RainbowLaces campaign is held in conjunction with Pride in Sport and embraces all major sporting codes.

Clubs already committed to #RainbowLaces include the ACT Brumbies, Essendon Bombers, GWS Giants, NSW Swifts, Giants Netball, North Queensland Cowboys, Penrith Panthers and Sydney FC, together with elite individuals such as Johnathan Thurston, Robbie Farah, Alex Blackwell, Andrew Fifita, Rostyn Griffiths, Michelle Heyman, Sharni Layton, Dylan Shiel, and Alex Wilkinson.

SKINS also makes laces available for free to grassroots and community sporting clubs and individuals.

Executive Chairman of SKINS, Jaimie Fuller, says sport should be a place where people feel safe and welcome whether they are a player, volunteer, administrator or fan.

“Through #RainbowLaces, we want to show that LGBTI prejudice has no place in sport. The only thing that matters is what happens on the field.

“If we extend the issue of LGBTI prejudice in sport into broader society, we are confronted with one of the significant moral injustices of our time – marriage inequality.

The Dentons GLOW network is part of a global LGBT+ network within Dentons which aims to create a dynamic and inclusive work environment globally. GLOW, an acronym that stands for Gays, Lesbians or Whoever, represents principles of openness and acceptance that are at the heart of the network.

GLOW Australia Executive Sponsor and Dentons partner, Ben Allen, says that Dentons is proud to support the #RainbowLaces campaign, whose message of inclusion in the area of sport echoes the principles of inclusion at the heart of GLOW.

“Dentons has always fostered a culture of acceptance of the LGBTI community, consistent with our firms’ commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in Australia.

“The work of the Rainbow Laces initiative, much like the work Dentons has set out to accomplish with our GLOW network, has at its heart the creation of a safe environment in which members of the LGBTI community and their allies can feel that their contributions to business or sport are valued and recognised, free from discrimination or persecution”.

The Gala Dinner, which includes an auction in aid of Pride in Sport’s outreach programs and research, has attracted Sydney’s corporate elite with attendees drawn from the legal, finance, advisory, media and sporting sectors. 

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