Sexuality and gender continues to play its horrid role in sport. Unfortunately, there is no room for different sexual orientations in sport. Every single one is expected to be straight and there's no such thing as homosexuality. People who 'come out of the closet' are ousted and have an unnecessary stain on their career. This is why everyone, especially athletes, are wary of coming out. They will never be seen the same as they once did.
Recently, NFL player Carl Nassib spoke about coming out. In 2021, he came out as being gay. He had been wrestling with these feelings for 15 years. He is a private person and didn't want public attention from it. He credits The Trevor Project - a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organisation for LGBTQ+ youth – and how it had helped him.
On Friday, Nassib will continue that partnership as he announces the second round pick of the Cleveland Browns – the team with whom Nassib began his NFL career in 2016 – at the 2024 NFL Draft.
The Trevor Project estimates that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ+ young people – ages 13-24 – seriously consider suicide each year in the US and at least one attempts suicide every 45 seconds. In 2022, the organisation launched a 24/7 crisis services for LGBTQ+ youth in Mexico.
Nassib retired in 2023 - after seven years of playing. He called the retirement, 'bittersweet.' He played for the Cleveland Browns; Las Vegas Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaners accross the seven years. He found it really tough but is all smiles now. He said, "Despite your sexuality, it doesn’t really matter, it matters like your work ethic and your perseverance and your grit.”
Sport represents a significant aspect of many societies in the world. This provides people with substantial physical, mental and social health benefits (Amodeo, Antuoni, Claysset & Esposito, 2020, cited, World Health Organization, 2010) and generating positive outcomes for the wider community (Amodeo, Antuoni, Claysset & Esposito, 2020, cited, Schulenkorf and Edwards 2012).
Many developmental issues may be influenced by participation in sport, including identity formation and learning of cognitive affective, behavioural and social skills (Amodeo, Antuoni, Claysset & Esposito, 2020, cited, Danish et al., 2004), along with increased self-esteem (Amodeo, Antuoni, Claysset & Esposito, 2020, cited, Liu et al., 2015; Zamani Sani et al., 2016).
It's clear that sport can be a driving force for social inclusions of diverse and marginalised groups (Amodeo, Antuoni, Claysset & Esposito, 2020, cited, Dashper and Fletcher, 2013; Kidd, 2008 & Schulenkorf and Edwards, 2012). However, numerous studies have defined sport as a sex-segregated and heteronormative context (Amodeo, Antuoni, Claysset & Esposito, 2020, cited, Kavoura and Kokkonen, 2020).
Sexual minorities are a group whose sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression differ from heteronormative ones (Amodeo et al. 2020, cited, Mizzi and Walton, 2014). Usually, sexual minorities include lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders and genderqueer individuals (Amodeo et al., 2020).
Transgender athletes are often blamed for the challenging the binary sex-segregated system of elite and recreational sports. This is because they have unfair physical advantages and thus question the fairness and the level playing field of sports into question. Conversely, sports organsations are accused of implementing discriminatory policies of adhering to binary sex-segregation instead of considering gender identity or other competitive categories. There seems to be a system of excluding transgender athletes and preventing the positive effects of sport on transgender individuals (Braumüller, Menzel & Hartmann-Tews, 2020).
Sex binary refers to opposite catergories and ignores the spectrum of sex characterisation (Braumüller, Menzel & Hartmann-Tews, 2020, cited, Griffin, 2012). Transgender refers to an incongruence between sex and gender: namely, the sex assigned at birth does not fit the inner feelings of gender identity (Braumüller et al., cited, Krane, Barak & Mann, 2012) and defined as “one’s sense of one’s self as a gendered person” (Braumüller et al., 2020, cited, Enke, 2012, p. 12).
"Transgender serves as a category that includes transgender males and females, non-binary persons (i.e., individuals with gender identities that are neither exclusively female nor male) and sometimes also non-identifying persons (i.e., individuals who do not identity as male, female, or transgender). . Gender expression focuses on how “people express, wear, enact, and perform gender through behavior, mannerism, clothing, speech, physicality, and selective body modification” (Braumüller et al., cited, Enke, 2012, p. 18).
Therefore, gender expression can take many forms, ranging from styling and self-presentation; to the changing of names and pronouns and to hormonal and medical treatments (Braumüller et al., cited, Griffin, 2012). People who do not conform to the assumed gender roles and expressions are known as gender non-conforming individuals (Braumüller et al., 2020).
Sports and physical activities are a way to express one’s gender (identity) by engaging in what is considered typically masculine, feminine or gender-neutral sports; playing sports in specific ways or meeting/rejecting sports-related gendered role expectations (Braumüller et al., 2020).
Girls and women still face several challenges in the domain of sport. This takes shape in which masculine characteristics (i.e., playing hard, being aggressive and assertive) are promoted and the masculine body is the norm. This reflects a “hegemonic notion of athleticism as a masculine trait” (Braumüller et al., cited, Griffin, 2012, p. 101).
The subject of gender in sport is as old as sport being a social phenomenon. Sports have traditionally been considered an activity circumscribed to men that excluded women (Donoso, Álvarez-Sotomayor & Reina, 2024). It's argued that, “The history of sport is that of an androcentric social reality. It was ‘men’ – sociologically speaking – who ‘produced’ sport” (Donoso, Álvarez-Sotomayor & Reina, 2024, cited, Moscoso and Piedra, 2019, p. 2).
One of the social function’s sports fulfilled was to maintain sexual divisions and discrimination thus acting as a mechanism of ideological reproduction that aimed to prohibit women from taking part in this new leisure practice (Donoso, Álvarez-Sotomayor & Reina, 2024, cited, Hargreaves, 1994).
The main argument was that sports violated women’s “feminine nature.” This belief was based on the notion that women were biologically incapable of the efforts required of men due to their supposed weakness and fragility and that they could only engage in low-intensity activities with a marked aesthetic component. The underlying objective, however, was to prevent women from violating the dominant stereotype of femininity (Donoso, Álvarez-Sotomayor & Reina, 2024, cited, Hargreaves, 1994).
This caused the sexual orientation of female athletes who did not adhere to the traditional norms of femininity and/or acted in a manner contrary to feminine gender roles to be questioned, who were labelled as lesbians (Donoso, Álvarez-Sotomayor & Reina, 2024, cited, Davis-Delano, 2014; Griffin, 1998; Harris, 2005; Kauer & Krane, 2006; Krane, 1997; Sykes, 1998).
Sport has shown that it can be social support network in which encounters between teammates and teams are viewed as moments and spaces where women’s different sexual orientations are accepted and respected (Donoso et al. 2024, cited, Anderson & Bullingham, 2015; Bullingham, 2016; Ribalta & Pujadas, 2023; Stigger & da Silveira, 2010).
Past research has shown that participating in a space where most women make their lesbian identity visible can provide an environment for women to explore alternative belief systems about their sexuality. In these settings, coming out becomes easier for those who have not yet done so (Donoso et al., 2024, cited, Fynes & Fisher, 2016; Griffin, 1998; Kauer & Krane, 2006; Krane, 1996; Riemer, 1997; Robinson et al., 2013).
They also provide women the opportunity to socialise and experiment with lesbians without having to make hasty decisions about or declare their sexual orientation (Donoso et al., 2024, cited, Davis-Delano, 2014). Lesbian athletes who have recognised themselves as such and express themselves freely can serve as role models for others and provide them the necessary support to counter feelings of shame and promote self-acceptance (Donoso et al. 2024, cited, Griffin, 1998; Kauer & Krane, 2006; Riemer, 1997). In this sense, sport can be viewed as a way to support the process of self-discovery or self-definition of sexual orientation ((Donoso et al. 2024, cited, Davis-Delano, 2014).
Sport can be seen as exemplifying positive values and morals. On the flip side, sports opens up the opportunity for disagreement and create a divide in society. Lenses in sport have created non-neccessary discrimination practices (Kulkarni, 2021).
Gender affects how an athlete performs. Sport leadership is largely male dominated. This indicates that women athletes are likely to be coached by a male and hence are given the pervasiveness of detrimental ideologies enclosing male and female athletic capabilities. This affects how male coaches train their athletes and thus their bond with their female athlete (Kulkarni, 2021).
The coach sets the tone on and off the field and it’s their attitudes and behaviour that set the tone for the team or individual environment. This also shapes the athlete’s experiences. In order for the coach to become more gender inclusive or neutral, he/she needs to remember that the needs of a male and female athlete differs and thus it’s important for every coach to tailor their coaching programs according to these needs (Kulkarni, 2021).
Uncertainty in sexual orientations and gender identity can cause harassment, discomfort and even violence. It's these actions that create an environment where it impedes learning, costs friendships and harms teams, athletes and coaches (Kulkarni, 2021).
Gay and lesbian individuals in sports, whether it be athletes or coaches, are susceptible to being on the receiving end of an atrocious behaviour. The result is them keeping their identities on the downlow. One may also feel that by declaring their sexual identity, it may divert attention from their triumphs and put the public eye on their sexuality rather than their team or their athletic performance (Kulkarni, 2021).
It's quite clear that this issue is very complex. This issue is everlasting. There is no end in sight. Equality in sport I would encourage everyone to come clean and to accept who they are. I would also suggest to cut those who don't approve out of their lives. Everyone should be proud of who they are. They shouldn't be ashamed of anything about themselves. They won't ever be evicted from society. There are always groups where they can get comfort. They are not alone.
Reference List
Álvarez-Sotomayor, A., Donoso, B. & Reina, A. 2024. You Fall in Love with the Person”: Narratives of Female Athletes Coming Out of the Closet in Competitive Sports Teams of Spain. Sex Res Soc Policy (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-024-00937-0
Amodeo, A.L., Antuoni, S., Claysset, M. & Esposito, C. 2020. Traditional Male Role Norms and Sexual Prejudice in Sport Organizations: A Focus on Italian Sport Directors and Coaches, Social Sciences Journal, 9 (12), 218. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9120218.
Braumüller, B., Hartmann-Tews, I. & Menzel, T. 2020. Gender Identities in Organized Sports—Athletes' Experiences and Organizational Strategies of Inclusion, Front. Sociol. 5:578213. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2020.578213
Kulkarni, T. 2021. Addressing sexuality in sport: a guide for athletes and coaches. [online]. Available from: https://www.mindfirstperform.com/post/addressing-sexuality-in-sport-a-guide-for-athletes-and-coaches [Accessed: 27 April 2024).
Source Material
Morse, B. 2024. ‘There are kids … who’d rather be dead than gay,’ says former NFL star Carl Nassib who was first active player to publicly identify sexuality. CNN.