What does Pride mean for LGBT Sports?

Following the Pride parade last weekend, James Brandon, Projects and Programmes Manager at the Alliance, explores how sport is tackling discrimination and what more can be done to promote inclusivity in sport regardless of sexual orientation.

June has now become the month where Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people celebrate social change, history and sense of community all over the world. Over the last few year's headlines around equal marriage, policy around hate crimes, single equality laws, and a great presence in media representation is showing the movements in equality for LGBT people. Within the last year alone we have seen the first marriages take place between same sex couples with Ireland having a national referendum (somewhat controversially) on the subject.

However, there is still a massive journey ahead for LGBT to wholly tackle discrimination and sport is one of these areas. With Pride taking place in London last week I wanted to share some of the things that are happening nationally, among our members, and other interesting developments that I have been involved in.

Firstly, I thought sharing some of the key research around this area may be a good starting point. Over the last few years there has been a variety of research produced to help fully understand the issues LGBT people face in sport at all life stages.

Two examples of research stand out for me:
•tOut for Sport a Scottish study around LGBT participation and barriers where 79% of respondents think there is a problem with homophobia in sport and 62% have witnessed or experienced homophobia or transphobia in sport.
•tOut on the fields which was the first international study of its kind launched at the Gay Rugby World Cup (Bingham) in Sydney. Key findings included:
ot1 in 3 (36%) gay men did not play youth team sports, with many of these men saying negative experiences in school PE class (48%) turned them off team sports
ot77% of participants witnessed or experienced homophobia in sport (both straight and LGB respondents)
ot81% of gay men and 80% of lesbians have received verbal slurs
ot70% believe youth team sports are not welcoming or safe for LGB people
ot85% of UK participants believe an openly gay, lesbian or bisexual person would not be very safe as a spectator at a sporting event

These statistics paint a stark picture for sports inclusion of LGBT people. On the ground, the impact of this can be seen in lower participation rates and higher than average rates of mental health issues with 1 in 3 LGBT (National average 1 in 4) people seeking treatment or support. Recently, high profile athletes such as Gareth Thomas and Graeme Obree have come out after retirement and talked extensively the mental health issues they suffered as a result of playing while not being out.

Now, it is not all doom and gloom, many of our members are doing fantastic work in this area including; Rugby League, the ASA and many of our members. Furthermore national charters have been established to protect people in sport against homophobia and transphobia, campaigns such as ‘Rainbow laces’ and ‘Kick it Out’, and other development opportunities have been created to raise awareness and tackle discrimination.

Organisations have been set up to support both NGBs and clubs to work better together (in Scotland I was lucky enough to be part of setting up LEAP Sports Scotland) and we are seeing great developments in athlete representation. There were 23 openly LGBT athletes competing at the 2012 London Olympics and the first Pride House was run at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with over 6,000 visitors.

There is a lot to be done but things are going in the right direction. The Alliance has a great position to lead the sector on this issue and you never know, maybe in a year we will be leading our members to join the parade. For now I wanted to leave you with a quote from a participant taking part in a swimming project. In Edinburgh, through partnership between Edinburgh Leisure and LGBT Centre for Health and Wellbeing, LGBT inclusive swimming sessions here run to encourage people who had bad previous experiences in leisure environments to reengage with swimming. For Trans people in particular, public swimming environments can be a very vulnerable space.

“Being transgender I have avoided swimming for many years. Through these sessions I hope to regain confidence going in and out of a pool and using changing rooms. Hopefully I will be able to rebuild my passion for swimming. I know the exercise will benefit both my physical and mental health.”

For me and many others these new developments and the people taking part after years of inactivity is what Pride means for sport.

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