SYDNEY Swans chairman Andrew Pridham says watching the treatment of former club champion Adam Goodes last year has prompted the club to lead the charge against the prejudice faced by the LGBTIQ community in football.

Goodes, who retired at the end of the 2015 season, was subjected to weeks of verbal taunts from opposition fans throughout the year, and was forced to take a break from the game late in the season to deal with the situation.

Speaking in Sydney at the launch of this week's Pride Game between the Swans and St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, which aims to show support for LGBTIQ issues, Pridham said it was a sad reflection on society that the LGBTIQ community still faced plenty of barriers in the footy world.

Match preview: St Kilda v Sydney Swans

Pridham said the Swans' core values were inclusion and fairness, and he hoped that the AFL would continue to be a leader on such significant issues in the game.

Currently, there are no openly gay players in the AFL.

"We saw the difficult period that Adam Goodes went through when he supported indigenous causes, and just how brutal the football community can be on game day," he said.

"We're talking about a wide cross section of our society and many of them do have prejudices, and that’s what we've got to break down.

"Clearly there are gay footballers playing in the AFL, statistically it's pretty obvious.

"All we can do is create the environment where they can feel comfortable about coming out in public, (but) I can understand why it's so difficult.

"I certainly hope that players do feel comfortable coming out but it's purely a decision for them."

Swans co-captain Kieren Jack and defender Nick Smith threw their weight behind the Pride Game, and Smith said he understood that an openly gay player could find it tough to express his sexuality in public, but hoped that one day that would change.

"It would be a tough environment (to come out in), but there's no doubt there's gay footballers playing," he said.

"That's what this game is all about, encouraging respect for people's differences and that kind of thing.

"As a playing group we're really happy to support the inclusive nature of the game, the respect for anyone's sexual orientation, and all the guys are really behind it."

AFL goal umpire Michael Craig, beyondblue chairman Jeff Kennett, St Kilda CEO Matt Finnis and AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan at Etihad Stadium to promote the round 21 Pride Game. Picture: AFL Photos