Declaration – Megan Schutt | Grandstand

In this episode of Declaration a video series produced by ABC Grandstand, Megan Schutt talks about love. In the off-season Megan got married to her long-term partner Jess.

Here the cricketer shares how it feels to represent the country that's allowed same-sex marriage to happen.

Produced by:

ABC Grandstand

Join the ABC Australia community on social media!

Transcript:

Being able to call Jess my wife is a really important thing to me. I think saying partner is nice, but when having to explain that it's a woman a lot of the time, I think that often gets a reaction which isn't so comfortable for me. So, to just be able to say wife, flat out and people just know that's the deal that's the most important thing for me.

Kind of like being cheeky, I don't know, I think for me, I have a platform. So, I might as well use it for the right reasons. I think for me, I've always kind of been taught to stand up what I believe in and don't take any crap basically. So yeah, I don't really hold back, whether that's online or in person.

I think it took me a long time to be comfortable in my own skin, to be honest. I think I was quite a, I guess, shy person till I was probably 15 or 16. I started to just care less about what people thought and as I got older and realised that life isn't so bad and not to take myself too seriously. I kind of just developed a little bit more of a personality.

Yeah, the wedding was amazing, to be honest. It was just a beautiful day, we couldn't have asked for anything more. Everything was smooth and perfect. A little chilly if anything. A little bit more sun would have been nice, but I don't know, just to have that moment.

It was honestly so much more special than I thought it was going to be like.

I was very much looking forward to it, but it was just more than I ever dreamed of to be honest.

It's no different being married yet. Yeah, I'm waiting for it. But she's stuck now anyway so if she finds any faults, she knew though that from the start so it's her fault.

I really wanted to stand up for same sex marriage. It's something that I truly believed in.

But for me, I think too, the more I can cop it, the more someone else is not going to cop it as much. I think that that won't go on forever. I think there will be some internet trolls that will still be there but they're fading out to be honest and those negative comments are getting less and less. So, I think for that short time that I copped it I think it's a pretty good thing to cop. I think that'll be a benefit for other people.

It's honestly really special feeling just to be recognised and acknowledged. In saying that, obviously we fought for a while, but it's just a big accomplishment for us as a country and it's obviously a good direction to be heading in.