MORE PRIDE, LESS PREJUDICE

One of the best bowlers in the world, Australia's Schutt opens up to Kalyani Mangale about her journey as a queer athlete, how perspectives have changed after becoming a mother and more...

- Kalyani Mangale

MEGAN Schutt has plenty of tattoos. From a pineapple to a flamingo named 'Freddy' and a camel to just a normal smiling face. There are plenty of them. However, on her bowling arm rests potentially the most important tattoo she has ever inked. It simply says "No place for Hate." While the other tattoos show the quirky side of the most senior pacer in the Australian squad, this tattoo is something she lives by. Schutt has always been that person. As one of the few queer athletes representing Australia long before same-sex marriage became a legal reality in 2016, she has been exceptionally vocal about her opinions.

She prefers calling herself 'stubborn'. "I am more stubborn about this sort of stuff than other people," Schutt told this daily, remembering the time when same-sex marriage was not legal in Australia. "What hurt was the legality of it. Not having the legality of a piece of paper to say that in an emergency, I'm the person of contact. I am her wife. Everything that was deemed important for a heterosexual couple wasn't possible for a gay couple. And I hated that because it's obviously inequality, but it's also you are just seen as less natural. I guess it was more frustrating than anything because, to me, it seemed like a pretty easy law to change," Schutt remembers.