PITCH
Proactive Initiatives to Challenge Homophobia!
(In SPORT, in case you were wondering...)
Intercom is playing a lead rôle in developing local South West initiatives on Kicking Homophobia and Transphobia Out Of Sport.
Our Sports Education Outreach Officer, Joe Hayden, has developed a Toolkit for coaches, teachers and athletes (basically something for everyone who's involved in sport)
Cultural homophobia in the UK has been demonstrated to be on the decrease with homophobic attitudes and behaviour being driven underground at an encouraging rate. Despite this the progress the sporting world continues to lag behind and fails to mirror these developments. Indeed sport has been theorised to remain one of the final strongholds of institutional homophobia.
However, to assume that the majority or even a significant minority of those involved with the coaching, administration or participation of sport are homophobic or transphobic would be far too cynical. In fact a wealth of research has highlighted the progress that has been made and there are many positive examples where LGBT athletes have come out and have received huge support from team mates, coaches and the wider sporting community.
However, this is not to say that a problem does not exist. You only have to refer to the number of openly LGBT athletes at the top flights of sport to see that something within the sporting environment keeps gay people closeted or may be deterring them from taking part.
Where is homophobia present in sport?
Unfortunately homophobia can be identified in many areas of sport. Many people will have encountered coaches who use homophobic language, whether in a playful manner, as a motivational tool, or with more malicious intentions. Many people will have also heard homophobic abuse chanting from the terraces or from opposition players. However, the most common occurrence will be from team mates. Homophobic “banter” is often rife in many team sports, many people will admit to having used the word gay to insult people in exchanges, friendly or otherwise.
Why is homophobia a problem?
Although homophobic language may seem harmless to use, it is often used without consideration and may lead LGBT people to remain closeted or to believe that their team mates would not be accepting of them, this causes many to stop playing the sports they love. It also affects a team’s cohesion and performance. A team will not function as efficiently if some members are constantly trying to defend their sexual orientation to others. Potentially talented LGBT and straight athletes will not be able to focus on playing to the best of their ability if they are contenting with bullying or discrimination.
More importantly homophobia damages and destroys lives for those who are subjected to it. It prevents people from expressing themselves as others are free to do, and forces many to exert all their effort into hiding their true identities, often preventing them from achieving their potential in other areas of life. For those who do publicly come out there is the verbal and physical abuse they face often on a daily basis, the discrimination be it when applying for jobs or simply being left out of the team.
So why are gay people so underrepresented in sport?
The ignorant assumption that gay men, for example, do not enjoy competitive sports, particularly those of a macho culture is one that I have frequently encountered and is often exposed as a generalisation borne from clichéd stereotypes. The truth is that LGBT people enjoy playing sport just as much as straight people and that there are probably many LGBT people who are playing sport and are very successful, but a large majority of them remain closeted and unable to express their true identities.
Why do gay sportspersons often remain closeted?
Despite advances that have been made to promote inclusivity and diversity, as a generic institution sport is still be dominated by heterosexual males in the way it is structured, run, viewed and participated in. In many sports this leads to a culture of masculinity and hetrosexism. For an LGBT person to make it as a successful athlete in such an environment they must often remain closeted to avoid discrimination. This has been stated by numerous LGBT sports stars that came out towards the end of their careers.
Another reason that LGBT people hide their sexual orientation is through fear of rejection, particularly for team sport athletes. Being a member of a sports team presents a new group of people from which acceptance is sought by anyone coming out. And those LGBT people will be constantly assessing the attitudes and responses they may encounter from team mates and coaching staff if they were to come out to their team. These attitudes will often be extremely accepting and supportive but lies hidden to the closeted athlete, masked by homophobic language and actions often dismissed as banter.
This is what must change. Sport has such a prominent position in society and has a great power of influence. But should we still be supporting institutions which not only fail to act against discrimination but also serve to facilitate its replication in wider society? Sporting organisations need to look at the work that they are doing to combat homophobia. This will require involvement and commitment from the top policy makers and must be approached with the same vigour and treated as seriously as racism has been. Its time for sporting institutions to look critically at the culture they foster and implement strategies to improve it. Sport needs to move in step with the shift in cultural attitudes for its own survival as much for the good of society.
The PITCH project has developed a Toolkit for coaches and teams.
Making your team LGBT friendly
How to challenge homophobia in your club
A coached guide to athletes coming out
Creating an inclusive inclusive team culture
email Joe (at) intercomtrust.org.uk --- or 07551 588952 or 01392 201012